The Return of The Asgardians
by AlfredJ.Lowe
Summary: This is the beginning of a universe, brought together through the eyes of three special individuals who together make up the earths strongest defenders. This is the origin of one of those individuals, this being dropped in the middle of the Greek pantheon will show them how powerful he is, this is The Return of The Asgardians.
1. One, I've Got The Power

**Disclaimer, I own nothing but Alfred, all other characters and creations come from the genius mind of Rick Riordan**

 **The Return of The Asgardians**

 **Chapter 1 I've Got The Power**

Hello, to whoever is reading these congratulations you have found the first of my many journals filled with the tales of my adventures. Well it WOULD be congratulations if finding them was a good thing, it is not a good thing however because some of the information in these pages is mind boggling and may indeed drive you insane. If you are indeed an average human, this is also not including the fact that they are private so you will more than likely meet with a terrible fate after reading this. So, enjoy the story while you still breathe and hope that you reach the end of this journal, doom and gloom aside it is a riveting tale.

Great, now that the warning is out of the way, let's get to the good stuff, like talking about me, well my name is Alfred L. Vonstein I was born December 31st, 1988 11:59 PM at Mount Desert Hospital I am of African descent on my mother's side. I am what you call a demi-god. Beings that are the offspring of gods and humans in my case my father is a god.

I have the high honor of being the son of Loki, trickster god, and traitor to the Asgardians. He is the sole cause of Ragnorak, an event that left Asgard in ruins and many of the inhabitants' dead including their leader Odin. Now personally I don't mind what Father did at all. The only thing I care about is the fact that he didn't complete the job and it ended up being a pain in the ass, but we'll get to that at a later date.

So, I believe the best way to start this tale is from the beginning. When I was born, my mother died of a heart attack, this event was rather sad as I have been told that we would have gotten along famously; however, it was not to be. I was brought in by my Uncle Bron M. Vonstein, the Headmaster/General/Principal of Westover Hall Military Academy.

It was there within those cold stone walls that I was raised and taught the subtle art of being a soldier for ten years, I was an exceptional child my uncle likes to say I never cried as a child would, never complained when told to do something, and above all else, I was unnaturally Intelligent. While most kids ran around with friends and laughed I was training my mind and body, I was the youngest to ever graduate at 11 years old in 1999, that ironically being where I had my first "incident."

I was running the obstacle course after the graduation ceremony for even though I graduated I would still need to stay there until I was 18 and could go out on my own. Now normally a Sergeant would be present there to make sure that no one got hurt, the number was surprisingly high safe to say, but seeing as today was counted as a rather special occasion the usual Sergeants were indisposed.

Personally the idea of children taught how to be effective soldiers was honestly not something to brag about, I could already tell that most of them would end up in some military branch, while others would simply drop everything they've learned within these halls and never speak of anything related to the military again.

Everything was going perfectly as usual until I reached the climbing wall, while going up was easy enough, through a series of unfortunate events I found myself not entirely pulling myself over as I fell headfirst over the 15-foot wall. A fall like this would kill a child if they fell on their head, more than likely breaking their necks and for all intent and purposes I should have joined the ranks of those dead children.

There was one thing that stopped this from happening, the fact that someone caught me by the ankle, I let out a sigh of relief as I looked up expecting to see an angry Sergeant readying himself to literally chew my head off.

Instead, what I saw was a young boy leaning over the wall holding on to my ankle for dear life with both hands, he had caramel brown skin, with bright brown eyes, and his hair was shoulder length, done in many twists that hung haphazardly about his skull. I knew that the hair should have been held back in a ponytail excluding a few traitorous twists that would hang across his face.

It wasn't held back because I remember leaving the large band that would hold the hair back in my room. However, that was the least of my worries for I was still contemplating the fact that I was staring at myself, we stared at each other for a long while until I finally blinked and when I opened my eyes, I was now the one holding my leg.

I yelped and let go flinching when I realized what I had done, expecting the sound of a body hitting the floor I closed my eyes. When the sound never came however, I peeked through my eyelids only to see the last bits of green dust float away in the breeze. I blinked once, then twice before I began to climb down from the wall, and make the trek back to my room.

I didn't look at anyone, choosing to stare at my feet as I moved mechanically down the hall toward the west wing. The large dorm that held 12 beds was empty as everyone hung around outside for the graduation party as they said their goodbyes to the graduates. I sat on my bed at the very end on the left-hand side, I sat there and stared for what felt like hours going over the event in my head trying to find some logical explanation for it.

I came up with absolutely nothing that could explain what the hell happened out there, so I know what happened, and I know that it wasn't normal, so the next step was to try and find out how it happened. I stared forward trying to think of ways I could make it happen again; trying to think of another me standing there looking dashing as usual did not work after about 30 minutes of trying, so I decided that it was more of a feeling thing than a mental push.

So, I tried to recreate the fear that I felt when I was about to fall, and it was easy to do seeing as how it happened very recently. Sadly, however, I got nothing for my efforts, not allowing myself to get frustrated as that never solves anything. I thought of another way, maybe if I thought about how I didn't want to fall instead of how scared of the fact that I was falling something would happen then.

To make a long story short, my idea worked, when I concentrated extremely hard on the need to do something that I simply could not do myself, a clone would appear. It was strange at first staring at myself, and it was even more bizarre talking to myself. I heard the door open and without thinking I dove under the bed leaving my doppelganger out in the open staring at the new arrival with my usual confident smirk.

"Hey, Al! What are you doing out here? We are about to see off the Graduates" the boy said, he was one of the ones getting close to his graduation, one more year and he would be out and about in the world, back to his family more than likely.

My doppelganger merely nodded his understanding "I was only retrieving my band, and getting a clean change of clothes; I wouldn't wish to look sloppy for such an occasion," he said as he grabbed the band from off my nightstand and tied his hair back.

"Alright, good hurry up they're leaving soon," the kid said as he rushed back out to join his friends, the ones that acted less like an adult more like the children they really were, good for them.

I crawled from under my bed a devious grin marring my face.

"This has so much potential, I'm going to have untold amounts of fun" I said as I stared at myself.

He reached up and took the band from his hair and handed it to me.

"Good to know we agree on that Al" he said as I tied my hair back leaving a few twists to lie across my face, annoyances.

"You know what they say."

"Great minds think alike."

"And no mind is greater than ours" we finished as he dispersed into green dust that disappeared before touching the ground.

That event took place exactly five years ago, and for two years I delved into this new power. Every chance I got I would create the doppelganger, and we would switch places, it was by doing this randomly that I became very talented in the skill of hiding in plain sight. Creating the doppelganger was second nature at this point, and I now had the ability to create up to 3 of myself at once without extreme strain. Whatever I learned they learned and vice versa they were a literal me, and it was only through a moderate blow that they were forced to disperse disintegrating into green dust.

It wasn't until I was 13 that I discovered my second ability, I was going through puberty unfortunately, and so my emotions were on a tightrope suspended over bi-polar disease and the noticing of the female species. There was a girl, Annette Williams she was a small girl for her age of 14, she had short brown hair that hung mid neck, nicely tanned skin and an odd brilliant green eye color. She was a massive fan of magic so I being an emotional pre-teen at the time, found myself wanting to impress her, I went out and learned a trick. It was a simple card trick, in theory, you had them pick a card any card, then replace it in the deck. Then through many modifications of the deck that I'm not very motivated to write out for you, their card is supposed to be the last card in your hand when you throw all the cards away.

So, through long hours of preparation, I had finally gotten the deck to reveal the card I chose three times in a row. Filled with pride I went out to find Annette, and I had her pick a card and replace it back in the deck. I then threw the cards down leaving one in my hand; I was crestfallen when I saw that it was the ace of spades instead of the jack of hearts.

I showed her the card anyway, and she smiled sadly.

"It's okay Al it was a nice try. I'll see you later" she said walking away, let's just say that disappearing was at the forefront of my mind at that point haha.

My hormones kicked into overdrive and I ran to the latrine to hide from the world, only to notice in my failure addled mind that I didn't show up in the mirror. As many of you should know this shocked me greatly and I proceeded to freak out for a couple of seconds before remembering what I was, so through concentration, and no small amount of wishing, I finally managed to make myself reappear.

To me this was great, Hel it was better than great, it was something else to throw my time and efforts at, something to keep me pleasantly distracted while these hormones of mine ran their course. I was now back too normal, the power had shocked me back into my old cunning self, so I went back to my little headquarters known as the library, and tried to redo it over and over on my doubles, and it took an hour to repeat what I did, but in time I could simply disappear.

"I can vanish," I said gaining a devious grin, and they nodded.

"We just keep getting better at life, don't we?" they asked as they dispersed leaving me alone.

It didn't take me very long to realize the many capabilities of this power however one thing wouldn't stop bothering me. Why do I have these powers? I know it wasn't my mother for my uncle told me many stories of her and he didn't hold anything back. The one thing that was missing in my life was my father, I had no idea whatsoever who he was. So, it made sense that the powers more than likely came from him, I tried asking my uncle but he had no clue, she never spoke much about her love life. For half a year, this bothered me, I was confident in my vanishing skills, I've won many fights with the ability to make certain parts of my body disappear, earning a reputation for being able to punch faster than people can see.

My shooting ability at the time was at the top of the academy and my martial prowess was quick and decisive but of all the weapons that I've laid eyes on, the knife was always my favorite. Ask anyone and they would tell you that I could throw them with unnatural accuracy and speed, if I ever joined the military and were sent out on a mission I would more than likely just keep 2 combat knives and as many throwing knives as I could carry while still staying stealthy.

I still had a child's mind for your information and despite growing up I still think this was a rather attainable dream, My love for knives didn't go unnoticed by my uncle as for my 14th birthday he took me to an old antique store to find an old decor knife.

Naturally I wouldn't use it in a fight as the idea of an old antique knife cutting things was absurd, until we went and I found a pair of blades that resonated with me on a dare I say spiritual level. they were 8 inches long with carvings along the curved serpent-like blade despite it's obvious age it was still very sharp with runic carvings along the flat of the blade, the handle was straight as an arrow and wrapped in dark green linen. The guards were rusted gold, and they looked to have a carving in it as well but I couldn't make it out. So, I decided to buy the blades, my uncle nodded as we brought them to the counter to an old man with long grey hair trailing down his back. His bright green eyes sparkled, and he raised an eyebrow at my choice but smirked,

"You have a good eye boy, that'll be 50$, the blades also come with this" he said as he pulled out a thick leather bound book.

' **The Norse** '

"You're going to need it to read the blades" he said as my uncle handed him the money. I stared at him as we left and he met my gaze with that unnatural shine in his eyes, when the door was about to shut I swear he got younger and that smirk seemed eerily familiar.

When we returned to the Hall my uncle handed me another box, it was a knife cleaning set, along with a whetstone.

"I find that cleaning your favorite thing to be a very effective stress reliever," he said quietly.

"Thank you, uncle," I said saluting before returning to my dorm, while I did want to start the book and find out what the knives said, I found myself cleaning the blades instead.

The de-corroder got rid of any rust along the edges, and the polisher had them shining like new. With the blades finished I moved down to the guards, it took a little longer to get rid of the rust and then polish it, but once it was done, I could finally see the marking on the guards. It was an S, but it was made of two snake's encircling each other as they bit the others tail.

They...almost seemed to be slowly moving but I chalked that up to me being tired, so I set the knives on the nightstand planning to sharpen and read the runes on them in the morning. It was only a few seconds after my head hit the pillow that I drifted off to sleep.

I had a dream that night, I was in the middle of a ruined city, and the buildings were tall and would have been magnificent if it weren't for the fact that they were destroyed. There was fire, and the sounds of battle were not far off, as I moved down the streets with purpose. Men and women in armor rushed at me, but I cut them all down, without even breaking stride, I was a ghost as all their blades seemed to glide past me while mine hit home every time.

I blinked then I appeared in a chamber of sorts watching a tall fearsome bearded man doing battle with a humongous wolf. He fought hard thrusting and sweeping his spear at the beast but in the end, his throat was torn out, and he laid there bleeding to death. I felt a tinge of sadness as I walked past him, up to the golden throne and sat down, the wolf went off in search of more prey, and I just sat there, staring out of the large windows to the sky filled with dark clouds and smoke. Screams filled my ears but I didn't do a thing to block them out, I just let them wash over me waiting for it to finally end and for this to be over, I closed my eyes to let darkness envelope me, and I felt… nothing.

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 **Thanks for at least taking the first step on this little journey, quick tip, try not to think so hard it spoils the fun of the chaos.**


	2. Two, Training Time

**Disclaimer. Sadly, I own nothing but my character, all rights go to Rick Riordan but if I did, oh boy.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 2**

 **Training Time**

I awoke with a start and looked around the dark dorm at all the sleeping forms of the young soldiers in training. From the look of the sun barely peeking over the horizon, it was about 4 AM, and I knew that I wasn't going back to sleep so, I got up from the bed, got dressed in my usual attire of a dark green muscle shirt, black jeans while black loafers and socks finished the ensemble.

Grabbing the book from the nightstand along with the blades that I placed into the belt loop behind my back. Out of sight and easy to reach, I liked it, deciding against a ponytail I just pushed my hair and felt them flow down to my mid back silently thanking my uncle for allowing me to grow it this long. As the usual traitorous twists once again announced their presence in order to grate on my fragile nerves, I took that thanks back, enforce your rules Uncle.

It wasn't long before I was in the library, book and blades out in front of me, I was just going to find the runes that adorned the edges in the book and be done with it. However, it didn't go that way as I soon found myself reading the book instead, surprisingly it only took a few hours to finish and take in all the information on monsters, runes, and the many gods of the Norse. As I closed the book and picked up the knives to read the runes my eyes widened as the runes began to shudder and twist, warping over each other until they began to spell out in perfect English the name "Alfred Loki Vonstein."

It was then everything began to make sense, the powers, the dream, my incredible speed, strength, knowledge and most of all cunning. It all became clear my father was Loki, bringer of Ragnorak, traitor of the gods and he has been... "Watching over you this whole time," a smooth voice said as I snapped my head up to see a man seated in front of me. He was pale, with sharp features, aristocratically handsome with that very familiar smirk I always wear, and unnaturally bright green eyes I've seen twice before.

He was garbed in a long black coat with green runes of power and knowledge etched across the material; he wore a simple tight black shirt underneath. With bright green letters across it read "People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do," and he wore black boot-cut jeans and what looked to be green cowboy boots? Well, i'm not going to say anything about a god's choice in attire, especially when they pull of exceptionally well.

I chuckled at the quote "so . . . Loki, huh?" I asked as I set the blade down and leaned back "not bad" I said with a nod.

Now regular people who have been told that every day of their life has been orchestrated by a mad trickster god with grand plans would freak out and deny it, holding on to some fragile defense that their lives are theirs and they made the choices that lead them to where they were yada, yada, yada or possibly go crazy from the realization.

So, it was a damn good thing I was not normal, otherwise this would have been a rather long and repetitive conversation "so you're telling me that the one that made me trip and almost fall from a 15-foot wall was you? So, that the fear of falling and need not to fall would trigger my first ability? Brilliant" I said with a smirk.

"I do try to impress," he said lazily,

"And the girl that I wanted to impress with magic tricks never existed?" I asked

"Exactly; you were stuck in an illusion the whole week," he said with a smirk

"The man at the shop?"

"Shape-shifting is one of my many powers," he said simply.

"And my mother?" I asked losing my smirk; he visibly frowned and looked pensive for a moment, obviously finding the topic to be as difficult as I did, maybe even more so.

"I enjoyed her company, she was the closest thing outside of familial love I had. Do not worry she did not die alone in a room with strangers" I was there every step of the way, I delivered you" he said.

I nodded, smirk replacing itself "so shape shifting?" I asked, and he laughed at my poorly hidden excitement.

"Sadly not one of the powers you shall gain, but you did get the good ones, Doubles and invisibility not bad, not bad" he said, and I nodded.

"So what's next?" I asked, he stood and motioned for me to follow, and after replacing my knives I complied. He led me out into the entrance hall, no one seemed to notice him, and I had to quickly school my features when a couple of students walked through him.

We exited the building and moved around the side through the woods, the was sun was shining and cast a very beautiful view across the trees but I didn't get to truly appreciate it as I always do as we reached the cliff deceptively quick.

"You know we could have gone through the side entrance, right?" I asked, and he nodded as if barely paying attention looking up at the sky with a distracted look in his shining eyes.

"Yes, but the first thing you should be aware of is that I'm a drama king, and suspense is a beautiful tool for a king," he said with a smirk.

"I see where I get it from," I muttered and he shrugged offhandedly at the comment.

"So what's the next part of your grand plan?" I asked, and he looked at me grin widening.

"I'm going to teach you how to fight monsters" he said, and I blinked, that answer was...unexpected.

"Monsters?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes like the one barreling down the field" he said eyes gaining a rather devious gleam, I turned around expecting to see nothing, only to receive a crippling blow to my chest for my ignorance as I flew off the cliff into the waters below.

I opened my eyes to see Loki standing there like the cat that ate the canary.

"Did I just die?" I asked surprisingly much calmer than the situation warranted, I wonder where my anger went?

"It was an illusion, but yes you did die," he said.

I nodded, then punched him in the face or I would have if it didn't fly through him, ah there was the anger, I began to contemplate what just happened when Loki spoke up.

"I'd move if I were you," he said, and that's all it took to make me dive to the side.

I felt the wind rush behind me as the great club missed by inches, I looked up from my downed position to see a huge hulking figure. It was easily 10 feet tall, with rough gray skin, garbed in many animal pelts with skulls hanging off the fur like jewelry. I would have called it a giant if I hadn't seen the one glaring eye fixed deep into its scowling bald head.

"A Cyclops" I said as I jumped up and got as much distance between me and it as possible, because I was not about to be Cyclops food, I think I would taste horrible thank you very much.

"Correct, and seeing as you have already died once, it would be safe to assume you don't want to die again, so think fast ciao," Loki called as he faded from sight.

The hulking beast roared, and the ground shook as it began to rush at me, and that was all the incentive I needed to make a mad dash for the forest, I broke into the thicket of trees and actually made it a good distance before I heard the telltale noise of trees snapping. I hid behind a thick tree and began to pool my knowledge about Cyclopes, they are large, strong, not very bright, speed is also not a high factor for them, sight isn't a large thing either, but they tend to make up for that with an acute sense of smell.

I cursed loudly as the tree I was hiding behind was ripped from the ground.

I ran again as the beast roared and chucked the tree, it was only for the fact that we were in a forest that it didn't crush me instead it smashed into a few trees and hit the ground with a resounding thud. If I wanted to hide properly I needed to get rid of that sense of smell, smelling like the forest may work, but I need a sure-fire way. Blood had a distinctly strong smell, I need to make it bleed preferably on the lip, but how can I do that? An idea shot through my head and with a thought three more of me were running as well.

I nodded to them, and we quickly split up into four different directions, the Cyclops stopped and looked around trying to think of who to go after, and that moment was all I needed as the three copies turned around and ran at him, they jumped, and dived around the Cyclops as it took mad swings trying to destroy the clones. It never noticed me until it was too late, I had climbed a nearby tree and lunged for the beast, I landed on his shoulder, and before it could get its bearings, I reached around with my blade and cut as deep as I could across its upper lip. There was a sound of tearing, as the blood flowed freely and it roared, forgetting my blade still embedded in its lip I jumped to the nearest branch and clambered down. I took off for the trees and a place to think as my clones disappeared.

I took refuge in a turned over hollow tree as I tried to come up with a battle plan, its skin was tough however my blade was sharp enough to pierce it. I pulled out my second blade, but then to my surprise, the first blade reappeared in my hand with a snapping sound and a small plume of green dust. I nodded at the useful skill there is also the issue of my blades not being long enough to issue a killing blow, my clones appeared in front of me as we brainstormed.

"How are we going to kill that thing? It's huge," one of me asked.

"Well we did manage to drop its sense of smell I'm confident that we can kill it" another said with a smirk.

"You know what they say" one started but stopped eyes growing wide.

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall!" we said in unison.

"We'll use its weight against it" I said as my doubles nodded.

"We need to do this correctly, how tall is the damn thing?" one asked.

"About 10 feet tall" I answered.

"We need a way to trip it," another said.

"What about that tree it threw?" another double asked.

"It's pinned against two other trees," I said.

"Okay so we have a means of tripping it, but what are we going to use to kill it?" another asked and we looked at him.

"Hey, how tall are we?" I asked, and they looked at me.

"5'7 why? Oh!" they said.

"That's big enough to reach the brain," I said.

"But won't that disperse us?" they asked.

"No the eye is soft I don't think the blow will be enough to disperse you especially if you hold your blade up." I said and we nodded coming to a stand.

"Alright, well where is the tall bastard?" one asked until we all looked up as a shadow was cast over us.

"Run," I whispered, and we scattered as the club came down on the tree we were stationed near, it was only through a long run around that I and two clones got the Cyclops back to where we started the little chase.

My clones split from me and climbed the trees as I stopped in front of the downed tree.

"Come on boy, come on," I said as I used the universal taunt of waving my hand, it rushed at me, and I kept my confident smirk as it got in range.

"Gotcha!" they yelled as my clones came down onto the Cyclops's head stabbing and kicking it as it swung wildly, I stepped to the side as it tripped over the tree and fell exactly where my last clone was.

There was a large plume of green as the clones dispersed, I thought we failed as the Cyclops twitched a few times, and I got ready to run. However, it stopped moving and began to solidify until it began to crumble away, I heard clapping as I turned around to face Loki. I blinked, and he was standing in front of me by the cliff again.

"Did I win?" I asked.

"Yes you did without dying this time either, I'm impressed," he said with a smirk.

"Well I'm not one to disappoint" I replied, and his grin turned devious.

"Right, then you won't disappoint me when I tell you that you still have 99 rounds to go with random monsters" he said as my eyes widened.

"The illusion will reset itself on completion of the round or death, have fun" he said, and I sighed as I dove to the side.

I blinked and found myself once again facing my father Loki on the cliff of Westover Hall,

"Round 100 complete, am I good or am I good?" I asked him my grin widening, his smirk widened in return.

"You're more my son than any of your siblings" he said with a chuckle.

"But don't be fooled, everything you have done was done only in your mind, so now you have the knowledge of all the monsters that I can foresee you facing. However, that does not mean that you are physically fit enough to do those things" this made me frown as I thought about that.

"I noticed that no matter how much I ran or how many times I got hit while the pain was there I was never hindered in any way" I said, he nodded.

"That's because it was all in your head, so if some of those injuries were to happen out here" he said.

"A lot of those fights wouldn't have ended in my favor I understand now" I said.

"Good so now you know why I'm about to give you the training regimen of your life" he said, and my smirk dropped.

The man that had me fight against every monster he knew of and some that he created himself regardless of the fact that it was all in my head was going to give me a physical training regimen. Best Academy student or not this was going to be very VERY painful.

I was right as per usual, for the next two years I was put under grueling physical training, I still shudder whenever I think about it. Let's just say that I quickly passed the point of average human capability; now when I push myself, I find that I can flip cars and dodge bullets from a handgun. Don't ask how I gained that skill, anyway I learned after much prying, the origin of my dream.

Apparently, I am more Loki's son than the rest of my siblings, because I was born from a human, Loki's will? Presence? DNA? Took dominance, so the only thing of my mother's that I got was her hair and skin color. My eyes only recently turned bright green since I technically reached Norse adulthood, anyway Loki said that the recurring dream I've been having was about Ragnorak.

"Wait if Ragnorak happened that would mean that the rest of the Norse gods are dead," I said, and he nodded losing his smirk.

"Yes, they were, I won the war and took control of Asgard, but using the Odin force and with the help of a few of my offspring I brought it all back. I restored Asgard and left." He said I asked him why because I was no stranger to our fatal flaw which is ambition and greed, but he wouldn't tell me.

Now I am 16, and much has happened in the span of a year, Father taught me the very useful skill of business and stocks which I took to very easily. I now own Westover Hall, and a few companies with him as my adviser so that I learn and make mistakes but never enough so that he can't come in and bail me out. Let's just say I have a lot of money and leave it at that, anyway I find myself sitting on the cliff of Westover Hall just talking with my father. Well, I say talk but what I mean is throw very intricate insults at each other with our ever-growing wit.

I had recently cut my hair to shoulder length removing the need to hold it back in a pony-tail, father had much to do with that with his many subtle barbs about pony-tails and homosexuality. I am now 6'0 with a very lean muscled build much like my father, other than that my attire remained the same over the years however father recently taught me how to enchant my shirt to say random quotes every day. Today it said, " _My dad has a profound influence on me, and he's a lunatic_ " while his said, " _Crazy is a family thing._ "

"All I am saying is that if I were a god. Cat's would rule the land that's all I'm saying." I stated with a laugh,

"What are you? Bastet? Not to mention who's to say they don't already? I mean they eat, sleep, shit then mortals clean up after them and pet them for it. That is a reward for being lazy and mean" he said with a grimace, I thought about this and shrugged

"Hey what can I say? People are suckers for cute things." I said as we sat there in silence for a few moments, then I remembered something

"Hey father? I know you aren't here. So where exactly are you?" I asked, and he chuckled.

"Well I live in Asgard," he said, and that made me think.

"But don't they hate you?" I asked, and he shook his head.

"No, no matter how much I tried they could never hate me. However, they don't remember that Ragnorak happened, so I am still the beloved son and brother they thought I was" he said, and I smiled, clever as always.

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 **Thanks for reading so far**


	3. Three, Rock, and Rodeo

**Disclaimer. Sadly, I own nothing but my character, all rights go to Rick Riordan. If I ever did though, that boat would be thoroughly rocked.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 3**

 **Rock and Rodeo**

We were rudely interrupted however by the sound of hurrying footsteps and yelling; I groaned as I turned around and looked to see vice principal Dr. Thorn, he was recently hired by the academy and he had a couple of cadets with him while being pursued by four people.

Now, I would have been surprised by this if I hadn't already known that Dr. Thorn was up to something. Sadly, at my father's request, I left it alone to see where it led and it looks like the situation was about to hit a critical moment so it would be best to make myself a key player in the events that would unfold, for boredom reasons.

"Why hello Thorn, a beautiful night isn't it?" I asked sending a doppelganger towards the group while I vanished and gave them about a 10-foot birth.

They did not notice me by the cliff due to the surprise shown on Thorns face as he spun around to face me.

"Mr. Vonstein! What are you doing here?" he asked confused but I merely shrugged.

"It is widely known that this cliff is a regular relaxation spot for me, but the better question is what you are thinking of doing with these two cadets. Two cadets, that have come under the roof of my school and are under my protection?" My doppelganger asked taking meaningful steps forward to get the point across that I was not amused with the situation . . . Well, I was but let's not let them know that.

Thorn lost his shocked expression to gain a new smug one all accompanied with a snooty nose in the air and a sneer.

"So, you knew I was a Manticore? Well, I would enjoy knowing how seeing as you don't smell like anything more than a mere mortal" he stated as he began to melt away and hunch forward.

Now to be fair I had no idea that he was a Manticore, but acting like you know something often makes the enemy speak of it as if it's common knowledge either confirming your idea or just outright giving you information. His skin fell away in clumps that hit the ground and dispersed into steam; I rose an eyebrow at the rather dramatic transformation seeing as how in the illusion chamber my father made them transform in mid-leap.

So, this one finds no need to do anything remotely challenging which would mean that he is.

A. Stupid

B. Overconfident

or

C. Has a plan

Since I am a paranoid person I chose.

D. All the above

So I must approach this with the utmost caution. So after that rather disgusting display, my doppelganger rushed at him, and it was evident he wasn't expecting this as he didn't react at all fast enough to stop him. When he got into the appropriate range he leaped over Thorn, who growled and sent his stinger up to impale the doppelganger mid-flight. However, the doppelganger expected this, spinning himself to the right allowing the stinger to miss his left shoulder barely. Quickly pulling out his knives he used the momentum of the spin to slice into Thorn's tail successfully cutting it off.

He landed and turned to face him gracefully hands placed behind his back and heels together in what my uncle likes to call "Parade Pretty" as Thorn's tail slammed into the ground in front of the doppelganger still twitching as it tried to carry it out the last command. I let my consciousness take over the doppelganger, and smirked at him, but then my eyebrows drew together as what I saw was not what I was expecting because at some point mid landing a small blonde girl in a red sweatshirt and a cap ran past me. Stabbed her knife into his back and was now holding on for dear life as he bucked and jumped like a bull at a ranch.

I was going to do something until another girl shot past me holding a spear and a shield beginning to try and get the first girl off, and while her moves were impressive the way she was going about attacking the Manticore was not.

"She's a strong one," father said as I stared at the scuffle,

"which one?" I asked, and he shrugged

"well both, but I'm talking about the one that doesn't have a future in the rodeo business," he said with a chuckle.

I looked at the one he was speaking of, and I had to say that she was rather impressive, skinny black jeans fashionably torn in several places showing patches of pearl white skin. A tight band T-shirt showing the subtle feminine curve of her body, a black leather jacket to top the punk rocker outfit off, I moved on to study her facial features, and I can tell you that I wasn't disappointed. A heart shaped face with a small nose and her lips set into a subtle pout as she focused on dodging the claws of the Manticore that I completely forgot about, dammit. I should probably end this game before someone got hurt.

Snapping myself out of it, I returned my attention to the Manticore just in time to see him quickly jump to the side lest he get pelted by a volley of silver arrows. I looked to the left to see that the arrows came from just before the lining of the trees leading to the forest. Thorn roared and growled in outrage and seeing that he was outnumbered decided to make his escape, so he turned and ran full on for the edge of the cliff. Now, normally this wouldn't worry me, however this circumstance was different as there was still a girl attached to his back.

I am sure that he knew of this because he was keeping her in between him and the forest so the hidden archers couldn't hit anything vital. Well, I being a rather vindictive individual would not allow Thorn to get away with even the smallest of victories, so my mind slammed back into my original body as I dashed after him still invisible and my doppelganger still standing there. I knew that I wouldn't be able to catch up to him seeing as he was closer to the cliff and ran for it before I did. However, I could get close enough to do something rather dangerous.

I threw my hands up and forward, and a clone appeared in the air in front of me, already in mid spin, he created a glowing green chain attached to the handle of his knife and swung down toward Thorn. The blade connected with the beast's ankles and cut deep causing him to lose control of his gait. He dropped to the snow-covered ground and began to roll, the girl was thrown off of his back and was rolling beside him, both of them were headed straight for the cliff, so not wasting any time I dived into a slide and sent out my own knife and chain to wrap around her arm. I quickly rolled into a crouched position and held it, the chain stretched tautly, and she came to a stop mere centimeters from the edge, Thorn, however, flew right off the cliff, and I could hear his roar of anger quickly fade away.

I stood to check on the girl now shuffling frantically away from the cliff's edge, but a small boy beat me to the punch as he zoomed past me yelling out Annabeth, which is what I'm assuming to be the girl's name.

"You alright there? Do I need to call a medic?" I heard my father ask in a very fake sweet voice, I rolled my eyes at his antics.

"No father I do not need a doctor" I said.

"Who are you talking to?" I heard someone ask and I looked to my left to see one of the cadets, Nico De Angelo I believe was his name staring at me.

"I was speaking to my father," I said, and he looked around confused

"You should get used to things like this seeing as how you were almost taken captive by a monster," I said, and he smiled.

"Cool," he breathed and that caused me to smirk

"Yes cool up until the point that he decided he was hungry and would go for a snack," I said, and his smile quickly dispersed while my smile widened.

"Word of advice; monsters aren't "cool" they are deadly creatures that eat people. Preferably children and the only way to survive if you know about them is to gain the ability to destroy them" I said.

"Like you?" he asked, and I nodded

"Precisely Nico like me" I replied, and he nodded "cool" I heard him whisper, and I snickered.

"Cool indeed," I replied idly.

My ears were assaulted by the sound of blades on the air, and I looked over to see lo and behold a black assault helicopter with its lights, and its guns pointed at us.

"Well that's not good," I muttered as I heard father snicker behind me.

"Got any ideas for this one father?" I asked, and he shrugged.

"Wing it," he advised.

"Great advice, good thing I asked you," I said sarcasm dripping from my voice as I moved to rush the helicopter and do something amazing.

I was beaten to the punch yet again as I felt a wave a magic in the air and the helicopter ceased to be, replaced by a few doves that flew off into the sky.

"Okay, so we are talking witch, goddess, water nymph, mystic dragon, or you father. Seeing as how the only water source is a mile beneath us and isn't inside of a forest. A water nymph is out of the question; there is no cackling so I can knock witch off of the list because despite great effort they still cannot break that stereotype. It is not a full moon, so mystic dragons would not be active even if they lived near here, and since you aren't currently laughing, I can say you didn't do this either" I said.

I left out God since they tend to be very flashy with how they do things instead of just getting the job itself done. So since there was no flash of light, it didn't burst into flames, no lighting strike, it wasn't swallowed by darkness, or turned into a never-ending number of squishy things. I feel very safe in ruling out any high-powered male being.

I caught on to the culprit very fast however as there was enough evidence around me with the forest, silver arrows, and the quick dispatch of the helicopter to call this the work of a goddess

"Artemis goddess of the hunt" I said, and I heard a groan from over by the cliff.

I noticed it was the female in the punk rock attire and motioning for Cadet Nico and Cadet Bianca who just joined us in fearful silence I moved over to them,

"Something wrong? You guys aren't hurt, are you? As I can call a medic anytime" I said.

While I knew that none of them were injured, well besides Annabeth who may have some bumps and bruises from the rodeo and tumbling it is still prevalent to place myself as the one who you ask for help, it's an authority thing.

"No we're fine" the female in the punk rock attire said, now that I was much closer than I was before I noticed a few more things about her that just continued to intrigue me.

She had a light dusting of freckles over her small nose that I found quite attractive; however, it was her eyes that truly stunned me. They were an electrifying blue that seemed to energize you when you stared into them, despite this. However, I noticed a glint of intelligence in them which I like in people, being stupid isn't a good quality.

"And might I have your name?" I asked her.

"Thalia, Thalia Grace" she said placing her hands on her hips and I nodded.

"Lovely name" I said. She rose an eyebrow.

"Thanks, I guess, what's yours?" she asked crossing her arms smirk on her face.

"Alfred Vonstein" I said, leaving out all titles as I like to surprise people.

"You're names not half bad either," she said with a smirk, and I gave a bow.

"Happy to have your praise," I said, much to her amusement, her laughter was hearty and slightly musical I found myself liking it.

"Good job son you're pulling out the Loki family charm" father whispered and I rolled my eyes discretely as I righted myself.

"So," I said raising my voice so as everyone could hear me, including the large group of girls making their way over here.

"Would everyone who does not go to this academy please tell me what they are doing on my grounds?" I asked, first looking at Miss Grace.

"You first if you will" I said, and she shrugged.

"Well we're here for them," she said pointing at my cadets.

"You are demi-gods," I pointed out, and her eyes widened.

"Yes it's not that hard to piece together because you can see monsters and fight them," I said.

"So, I am going to assume that my cadets are demi-gods as well," I stated and she nodded.

"Well then, we shall discuss that in a bit, hold on for a second if you would," I said then I turned to the large group of bow carrying females.

"Artemis please step forward and explain why there are a large group of hunters in my woods please?" I asked, and I got the reaction I expected. Shocked surprise for but a second before being bombarded with outrage

"You dare make demands of Lady Artemis!" I heard among the shouts of anger and the drawing of bows, I rose an eyebrow, feminists are always so up in arms about everything, they need to calm down sometimes.

I rose a calming hand.

"Well, first of all, I was asking her to do something not demanding; secondly, this is my domain I pay the bills and own the academy. So frankly, I can say and do what I damn well please, you aren't my religion so don't act like your deities are mine, and lastly, I said please" I pointed out.

The speech didn't have as much effect on them as I thought, probably due to the fact that I'm not known to the world yet, but I didn't let my surprise show, can't let possible enemies find out when you're surprised.

"What gives you the audacity and courage to speak to me and my hunters that way mortal" I heard a little girl say as she stepped forward,

I stared at her for a second trying to place the small girl as a goddess in my mind, and I was having trouble doing so.

My father chuckled in amusement before leaning over my shoulder.

"This is very amusing son, I just might go and get some popcorn" he whispered causing me to let loose a very tired sigh.

"Good to know that you care so much for my well-being" I muttered back but he merely leaned back and shrugged.

"I have faith in you," he whispered, and I rolled my eyes playing it off as mere annoyance for Artemis's question.

"Because you can do nothing to hurt me while in my domain and you know this is true for I felt your magic try and change me into something nasty right after my little speech" I said giving her a deadpan look.

Her eyes widened at that little tid-bit, immortals can be so arrogant sometimes, though coming from me is the pot calling the kettle black I guess.

"Yes besides the fact that I am protected I have made a lot of effort proofing myself from most magic, and not to be rude or anything but I am very sure that I can move faster than any of your hunters as well, you see speed is in the fine print of my family" I said.

"Really where?" I heard father ask.

"It was right under the claim that we could outsmart most things" I whispered he nodded in remembrance.

"Who is the one you dare whisper to as if I am not here mortal" Artemis demanded, I stopped and stared.

"Oh...she can see you," I said, and Father nodded.

"Yes I expected as much," he muttered.

"Apologies my dear for my sons' attitude but he has an issue with authority figures much like me, might I introduce myself?" Father said straightening his coat.

"I am Loki trickster Norse god, and it is a pleasure to meet you Artemis," he said, she narrowed her silver eyes.

"Loki, so you are the son of Loki" she stated looking at me, and I nodded.

"Yes a crucial god of the Norse religion, the one that caused the utter downfall of the rest of the gods themselves," I said with a wide grin.

"I enjoyed every second of it as well" father added with a smirk of his own that set everyone in the clearing on edge.

Now that's how you introduce yourself I thought taking in the wide eyes of everyone present with a wide smile, things were getting interesting.

 **Things are getting interesting indeed, I have to admit I am having a little too much fun so far writing this, i'd be happy if you guys enjoyed it half as much as I do, try to not think so much and enjoy the ride.**

 **Read, Review, Flame it's all good too me.**


	4. Four, Moving On

**Disclaimer. Sadly, I own nothing but my character, all rights go to Rick Riordan. Good thing too, because if I were in charge, Asgard would be the main theme.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 4**

 **Moving On**

Right about now I am sure we should have been pelted with arrows; however, I guess I was underestimating them for no one moved, not while in the face of a God. Perfect

"Now, I would very much enjoy keeping this civil so please if you would tell me why you and your large group of hunters are here?" I asked again.

She scowled "we were hunting," she said curtly, my eyebrows shot up. She just did that, okay I got her

"Oh you were? Hmm never would have guessed, I thought you guys were knitting or something" I said.

Right on time, I saw the tip of an arrow 3 centimeters from my eye, only held back by the hand of myself, of course, my clone lowered the arrow, and I nodded to him

"Thanks, Al"

"Of course Al"

We returned our gaze to the hunters, and it wasn't Artemis that let the arrow fly apparently, it was another girl next to her, and based on the scowl that marred her face I could tell that she wasn't happy at all.

"Oh, I'm sorry miss did you not like my sexist comment? Well then don't try my patience I am not afraid of you or your goddess or the rest of the Greek deities for that matter, and I am trying to be polite but it would seem that manners aren't a part of Greek culture" I said with a sneer.

Only to have the rest of the arrows fly, they pelted me in the chest, a few to the skull and two in each knee, as I watched myself fall back I, twirled the lone arrow in my hand as green dust dispersed and silver arrows lay across the snow next to me.

"Well, he had a mouth on him eh?" I laughed as I turned to the angry hunters,

"well that's enough of that" I said quietly as a large duffel bag soared over their heads I caught it and handed it to Nico.

"Hold that please" I said and he nodded staring wide-eyed at the ground where the arrows lied, I turned back to The Hunters and smirked at their confusion, shock and of course anger.

"Thanks for the arrows Al!" I yelled

"no problem Al!" I heard from behind them causing them to turn and stare at the clone I had stealing the arrows from their quivers.

My smirk dropped, "now that I have taken your arrows, and just outright embarrassed you I would very much enjoy- you know what? Fuck it, father if you would please?" I asked, and he nodded.

"Now girls be good and take a nap while the grown folk talk. Thanks" he said and just like that The Hunters dropped leaving a confused, angry, and shocked Artemis.

"Father, you speak to the avid goddess please, I still have to handle the whole demi-god cadet situation," I said, and he nodded making his way over to Artemis.

I shook my head "this could have been over 10 minutes ago," I grumbled

I turned to 5 very shocked faces, I had a clone take the duffel bag of arrows back then return them to the unconscious hunters. I thanked Nico for his assistance, and he nodded still wide-eyed, my attention was brought away from my cadet by the sounds of someone trying to speak. I looked up to see Thalia stuttering; I rose an eyebrow

"yes? What would you wish to say?" I asked her with a smirk. She stared at me for a second then shook her head

"you are either the dumbest or bravest person I've ever met" she said, and I chuckled.

"Well, I like to call it proper planning and a whole lot of bluffing" I returned

"you were bluffing?" the black-haired boy said,

"why yes I was bluffing about quite a few things but the trick is that they don't know that," I stated with a chuckle.

Then I remembered a thing called manners and extended my hand "Alfred Vonstein, and you are?" he took it, and I noticed his grip was a little lacking in strength and his hand didn't have many callouses, that was the sign of an up and coming warrior, but he held himself with some confidence.

"Percy Jackson," he said, and I nodded in greeting I then turned my attention to the blonde girl I saved earlier.

"how are you feeling Miss?" I asked, and she took my hand

"Annabeth Chase, I'm fine and thanks for earlier I don't know where I would be right now" she said.

I waved the thanks off with a smile, "so, you were bluffing?" Thalia asked, and I nodded

"about what?" she asked, and I smirked

"that's something for you to piece together yourself," I said simply.

She grinned, and I sat down on a log after brushing off the cold snow, I then remembered something

"Father!" I called, and he turned to me,

"hypothermia is a thing. We should get them off the ground" I said. He nodded then returned to his conversation, The Hunters began to stir from their forced sleep, and Thalia laughed at their confused expressions.

"Serves them right," she said, and I rose an eyebrow

"don't like them very much I see," I said,

"not one bit" she said with a scowl

I didn't ask why because, well I wasn't in the mood too so I just motioned for them to sit,

"didn't you want them off the ground so that they wouldn't get sick?" Percy asked, and I nodded

"yes I did, but they weren't awake and laying down in the snow, we are awake and just sitting so we should be fine" maybe. He nodded in minor understanding and sat down with the rest of the group, I clapped

"Okay, down to business. Why are you here again?" I asked

I forgot what I had asked them before being pelted with magic and arrows. Defending against a goddesses' magic and taking arrows to the face will make you forget a thing or two, Thalia spoke up as expected seeing as she may as well be the leader of the group.

"We came here because those two are demi-gods and we are to bring them back to our camp where they will be trained and protected," she said.

I nodded "and I assume you know this because of cadet Grover the Satyr," I said to which she agreed.

"Why would I let my cadets leave just so that they can be placed into these situations on purpose?" I asked

"because they will be taught how to handle the situations" she retorted.

"I feel I am perfectly capable of protecting and training them; it comes with the territory of owning the Academy," I said.

"Well you didn't do a great job of that seeing as you hired something that was after them" she threw back at me

"Only because I was seeing what he was planning, and don't forget that it was me that scared him off," I said with a grin.

"It was only by chance that you were even here in the first place" she sniped back

"It's a good thing I was here then because if I weren't Miss Annabeth would be in the hands of said Manticore" I pointed out.

She stopped and glared at me, and I smiled

"ooh she's feisty, you should keep her" my father said from over my shoulder.

I smirked and noticed just a slight tinge of red on her cheeks

"Keep me? He'll be lucky to have me in the first place" she said.

I decided to end the conversation there considering more important things than flirting

"So, what's going on father?" I asked.

"Well, other than the fact that she's very cute when mad. I learned that she prefers tea over any other drink, her favorite color is red surprisingly, she hates a lot of guys, her favorite food is steak oddly, and-" I stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"About why she is here father, and wait if she hates guys then why was she telling you everything?" I asked.

He shrugged, "I just have that kind of face," he said to which I sighed

"I swear if you bed the Greek virgin goddess of the feminist movement... I would actually applaud you because that would be awesome" I said.

Cadet Grover made a rather indignant sound but we ignored him for the most part.

Anyway, the point of the matter was that apparently, Artemis knew what Dr. Thorn was looking for and decided that she was going to go and look for this odd creature that would bring about the downfall of the Greek deities. Percy stopped us

"Wait how did you guys know what Thorn said?" he asked

Father looked at him with a grin "I read your mind of course," he said.

Percy didn't look like he was finished. However, we were very rudely interrupted by one of my cadets, Bianca I believe her name was

"What is going on!" she yelled getting everybody's attention.

"Who are you people? Why did that thing try to take my brother and me? Please just tell us what is going on!" she yelled.

"Silence!" I snapped she quieted down

"Now," I said regaining my calm smirk.

"I will explain to you and your patient brother what is going on; you two were taken by Dr. Thorn a Manticore that I hired. You and Nico are demi-gods, of what God I have no idea-"

"Hades" father said, and I stopped

"what?" I asked

"Hades, they are surrounded by a very faint aura of death and fear, and since the Greek demi-gods came looking for them I say they are the son and daughter of Hades," he said, and I nodded.

"Thank you, father anyway you two are the offspring of Hades, and these demi-gods have come to bring you to their camp-"

"or with us" someone else cut me off and I did not enjoy that.

"No, they won't!" Thalia growled glaring at our new arrival, I merely looked at her

"What do you mean or with you?" I asked the tan female that let loose the first arrow.

She would've been pretty if she wasn't surrounded by this thing called bitchiness, a very unattractive thing to me, she ignored my question. Another thing I dislike and simply looked to Percy and Bianca

"Percy, Bianca come with me" she order and turned on her heel moving towards the tents that I did not notice were being built. I looked at Bianca and motioned for her to follow me, we stood, and I looked at the group

"I will return shortly, in the meantime father please do your best to entertain these fine people, come along Percy, Bianca" I said as I noticed fathers grin become devious.

We made our way toward the camp, and once we got within 10 feet of the outskirt, I once again had arrows pointed at me. I rose my hands, "really? Again? Come now girls do you wish to be embarrassed again?" I asked.

I dropped my hands and motioned for them to follow I knew they wouldn't dare fire, well I hoped they wouldn't shoot me again, I had a clone invisible behind us just in case. The dark haired, bronzed female that led us and appeared to be Artemis's right-hand lady stopped in front of us.

"Lady Artemis's tent is this way," she said glaring at me, I smiled

"Did you really think I wasn't going to follow?" I asked, her glare hardened but she kept going, and we followed her to a rather ordinary looking tent, the only unusual thing about it was the fact that there were large birds and silver wolves around it.

They stared at us with an eerie amount of wisdom within their eyes; I got the odd feeling that they were older than most humans. I shook my head, and we entered the tent after the dark-haired hunter

"I somehow knew you would be coming as well son of Loki, where is your father?" she asked in that old timey Shakespearian accent of hers.

"More than likely doing sadistic things to the others to pass the time, it's what he excels at," I said she nodded

"Anyway what did you call Percy and Bianca here for?" I asked.

"I wished to hear directly from Percy what was said, your father gave some grim news, and I wanted to know if it was true or if he was withholding information," she said.

It seemed she finally understood at least a little that we were not to be taken lightly,

"Fair enough. However, we have no reason to do anything drastic if no drastic action is taken against us... without reason" I said.

I nodded to Percy to begin, and he relayed the tale of what happened when Dr. Thorn caught him. It was what father said just a little less detailed more than likely due to Percy's nervousness.

Artemis nodded at the information then sighed,

"So it's true then" she said, and I was still lost, yet I hid it behind my natural, easy going smirk.

"What does this mean Lady Artemis?" the hunter asked

"It means I must go on a hunt," she said

"I will tell The Hunters"

"No Zoe I must do this alone," Artemis said.

The hunter now known as Zoe looked shocked

"But Lady Artemis-" she started, Artemis stopped her with a raised hand.

"I must do this. So, there is no use Zoe, you and the rest of The Hunters will stay at the camp and await my return" she said.

It was evident that Zoe did not like this idea at all; however, she held her tongue with a look from Artemis, I nodded

"Well what do you need of my cadet?" I asked. Artemis looked at me then to Bianca

"Since you are now aware of your demi-god nature young one I would like to extend to you a choice" she said.

Just a reminder that Artemis speaks in a very fashion but that would be a pain to write so just imagine if Shakespeare was talking to you and you get the gist of it. Bianca looked confused, and my eyes narrowed expecting something that I was not going to like

"A chance to join The Hunters of Artemis" she said.

I lost my smirk, and Bianca gasped

"What does that mean?" she asked

Zoe stepped in "It means that you will follow Artemis, you will become a sister and hunt with us, and you will become immortal to all things besides battle" she said.

"She means that you will become a man hating immortal Archer," I said, and I got a glare from Artemis

"Do not discard my hunters as something so simple," she said.

I gave her a steady look "you are asking her to leave her little brother so that she can go off shooting arrows, hating men, and screaming girl power" I stated with a frown

Now that may seem harsh, but you must understand that I did not like the idea of someone abandoning their family. But I knew that it wasn't my place, so I held my hands up in surrender and let Bianca decide.

Artemis got to her, the promise of a family, a lack of responsibility made her swoon. She is a child, but by human standards so am I, she was giving up her real family, to join an artificial one. To run from responsibility, from life, from growing up, getting her heart broken, gaining wisdom, finding happiness and for what? Immortality? Not worth it, not worth it if you must leave behind someone that depends on you, not in my book. This was not my choice; however, it was Bianca's, and despite everything, she is still a child, and Gods are so damn manipulative.

Sad to say Bianca didn't make the best choice, so I ended up renouncing my responsibility toward her. It was only me and Percy that left the tent, and as we re-entered the clearing we were introduced to a fascinating sight. An enormous black snake easily 20 feet long and 5 feet thick was wrapped around a few trees, Thalia and Nico wrapped up in its tail and cadet Grover was hanging halfway out of its mouth.

Percy's eyes widened, and he took out a pen? Which elongated into a sword, but I grabbed his shoulder and dragged him closer for him to see that Nico and Thalia were laughing.

"Hang in there Grover!" Nico yelled

"Don't get eaten Goat-boy!" Thalia laughed, as they swung back and forth from the snakes' tail.

"Th-this isn't funny guys!" he yelled then he made an odd goat noise which made me chuckle, as we reached the tree I stepped up to the snake

"Having fun father?" I asked, and he turned to look at me before nodding.

This caused cadet Grover to whimper as he flopped up and down.

"You should spit out the cadet before he decides to urinate" I stated and before I knew it Grover lie before me in a puddle of saliva.

I grabbed him by the arm and hauled him up to his hooves, his pants plopped down seconds later, but I decided to not grab them due to the issues of hygiene. Grover was shaking, so I patted him on the shoulder.

"You're alright cadet, suck it up and take a shower when you can, because you wreak of snake spit and wet goat" I said stepping past him.

I waited as the snake slithered down to the ground, letting Thalia and Nico go as it began to shrink and reform until my father was standing in front me again. However, his smirk wasn't on his face. I was going to ask him what was wrong before he coughed once then spit out a fur-ball, I frowned.

"Well that's attractive" I scoffed

"Do you taste goat?" cadet Nico asked, and I was instantly reminded of what took place 10 minutes ago.

"Hey Nico, come here a second" I said turning and moving toward the cliff.

I sat down on the edge and motioned for Nico to do the same.

"Is something wrong?" he asked smile still present on his face.

I sighed, and he lost his smile "well Nico, I have some bad news. Then again I have recently come up with some good news as well" I said.

He looked confused "well what's the bad news?" he asked, and this caused my eyes to narrow because I am positive that anyone else would have asked for the good news first.

Especially someone as young as him, well as young as he seemed to be. He has this off feeling about him, like he doesn't belong where he is right now, it's a small thing but still something to think about.

"Well, alright I'm going to lay it to you straight, Bianca abandoned you," I said simply, and he stared at me for a bit.

"What?" he asked

"Bianca Di Angelo has left you to join The Hunters of Artemis," I said, and his eyes grew wide.

"That's not funny," he said, and I nodded.

"I agree it's not funny, but the truth tends not to be so," I said.

"She wouldn't do that," he defended, and I shrugged.

"I have no reason to lie to you I mean you can ask her yourself, she'll be out as soon as the joining ceremony is over," I said.

In truth, I was making it sound brutal on purpose, with a couple of word choices you can make something go from bad to just downright evil, you see I have this thing, it's called a fatal flaw, and I know what you are thinking, what could I be bad at? Well, the answer is simple. I am ambitious, greedy, and spiteful. You see when something happens that I don't like, my constant scheming tends to be a complete issue to whoever I aim it at, and at this moment I have that aimed at The Hunters of Artemis.

Nico looked up at me; I could see the pain in his eyes and hear it in his voice as he asked "Why?"

I looked out over the edge, the city below was quite beautiful in the night.

"To run, to escape from responsibility, to hide from the things that life can give and take, for immortality. To have a family, even if it means she has to abandon her real family, to be a coward and follow a goddess blindly despite her manipulations." I said coldly

"She is a child, gullible, scared, with silly dreams of something bigger, to be truthful the idea of running away disgusts me. A tactical retreat is always on the table, but to run away in fear, to leave those that are important is something I cannot accept despite age." I looked at him, silent tears left his eyes as he gazed over the city, I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"But I don't see that fear in you. I see greatness, and love for your sister even now, this is what will make you better than her, or any hunter." I said with a smile.

I did see greatness in this boy, a power that only he may possess, and I was going to bring that out.

Which leads me to what I did next.

"However, I do have some good news" I said, and he looked at me.

"What's that?" he asked me in a quiet voice.

"Well, how would you like me to be your teacher?" I asked.

He stared at me, "what do you mean?" he asked, and I chuckled.

"I mean do you want me to teach you how to be as strong as I am?" I asked and his eyes widened.

"You mean how to fight monsters?" he asked "among other things yes" I said with a nod.

"Cool!" he yelled looking out over the city, I noticed that it was getting close to dawn with the tiny bit of red over the horizon.

"I'm going to take that 'cool' as a yes?" I asked, and he turned back to me and nodded vigorously I smirked.

"Good man" I said clapping him on the shoulder.

"Come along, it looks like something is going on over there," I said looking back and seeing the groups meet around Artemis, we stood up and brushed the snow off our backsides.

Making our way over to the group and I noticed Bianca standing with The Hunters, she was looking around, more than likely for Nico and when she finally caught his eye. Well, it looked like she didn't enjoy what she saw, I glanced down and was surprised to see Nico's look of sadness, betrayal, but also pity if a child could even convey that. I grinned, and we kept walking.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"I am setting up transportation for my hunters and the demi-gods," Artemis said giving me barely a glance.

She turned toward the horizon and stared out.

"Your ride should be here shortly get your things together hunters" she said, and The Hunters went on to pack their tents.

Bianca looked like she wanted to talk to Nico but opted to help her new family with the packing, I turned to father and noticed him grinning devilishly at Grover.

"Father, stop giving the Satyr nightmares, I'm sure he'll be having them for a week," I said, he chuckled.

"Alright son, so you going?" he asked.

"You already know the answer," I said, and he nodded, I was about to speak to Nico again, but something stopped me something I'm sure I should've noticed a bit ago.

"Wait . . . how come everyone can see you now?" I asked.

Father looked at me "because I'm not hiding my presence" he said with a shrug, I shook my head.

"But how come you can touch people? You aren't really, here right?" I asked.

He chuckled "I used the Bifrost to get here a while ago, remember when you went unconscious for two days mysteriously?" he asked.

I nodded "the medic said I was exhausted from my workouts" I said.

His grin widen "and I used you as an anchor for the Bifrost. It makes sure there is no huge rainbow and a crater where I land" he chuckled, and I stared at him for a while.

"You stated that you were in Asgard not even 4 hours ago-oh wait no you told me you lived there not that you were there currently, never mind," I said then finding nothing wrong with the situation I shrugged.

I looked down at Nico, and he was staring over at The Hunters, I pat him on the shoulder.

"You'll get time to talk with her Nico, just be patient. First life lesson, patience is the greatest thing a bright person owns" I said, and he nodded.

"So, I noticed that you always have those cards with you" I motioned to the deck of cards in his hand.

"Want to explain to me what that is?" I asked, and he smiled which was a lot better than the serious look he adopted since I told him about his sister.

He went on to inform the group about his cards, well Thalia and me mainly as father went on to torture Percy since he wasn't there originally and Grover because he has now made a hobby of scaring the Satyr. It was a very entertaining game and had a surprising amount of info on some monsters that shouldn't be known, so something tells me that this game was made by someone who can see and actively searches for these monsters. Like the Crocodile Hunter, but with monsters that you really shouldn't make angry, before long Artemis called us back over to the cliff as dawn began to break.

"Your ride is coming" she said staring at the horizon.

"Apollo" father said, and I looked at him eyebrow raised.

"How do you know that one?" I asked, and he looked at me.

"She's staring at the horizon expectantly, and she is Artemis, there is only one ride she would be waiting for" he said.

I thought for a second "oh." I said, and he nodded.

"I wouldn't look, my brother tends to be rather flashy," Artemis said and I looked away because getting my eyes burned out by a sun chariot was not on the list of things I wished to experience.

So instead I turned to look at the academy once more before I go on this, whatever it was, vacation? I'll make sure to call my uncle when I get to camp and let him know I'm on business so he can hold down the fort.

"My very own castle," I said aloud.

I was reminded of when I first took complete ownership of the academy I stared up at the black stone walls, slit windows, large double-doored entrance, and the towers where the cadets sleep just like this. I smiled at the Academy, and I didn't have to be a mind reader to know that father was thinking the same thing, we had some great times here, horrible training times but great nonetheless.

I felt an intense heat hit my back and it took a bit for me not to flinch, there was a blinding light that would have forced me to shut and cover my eyes if it weren't for the fact that I was turned around. The light and the heat died down, and I turned around to see a rather impressive shining bright red Maserati Spyder. I looked down and noticed the snow had melted in a perfect circle around the car, and I was now standing on green grass, I whistled at the beauty of a car.

Then I looked at the driver as he stepped out, almost as tall as father and me with sandy blonde hair done in a short stylish fashion, he had a tan and was good looking in an outdoors and nature kind of way, he wore blue jeans, loafers, and a sleeveless t-shirt. I rose an eyebrow; he was a pretty blonde boy, I don't know why but I don't like him already.

"That would be from me son, my family has issues with blonde pretty boys" father said, and I nodded in understanding Thor would more than likely fit in that description.

"Wow" I heard Thalia mutter, "Apollo is hot," she said and I did not enjoy that observation.

"He's the sun god," Percy said, and I smirked.

"Not what I meant" she said, and I lost that grin.

"I don't like this guy," I said, and father laughed, while Thalia grinned at me.

"Little sister!" he yelled happily with a set of dazzling white teeth.

"What's up? You never call. You never write. I was getting worried!" he said causing Artemis to sigh.

"I'm all right, Apollo. And I'm not your little sister" she said.

"Hey I was born first" he replied.

"We're twins! How many millennia do we have to argue-"

"so what's up?" he interrupted.

"Got the girls with you, I see. You all need tips on archery?" he asked, and I stifled a laugh, that was good.

Artemis grit her teeth "I need a favor. I have some hunting to do, alone. I need you to take my companions to Camp Half-Blood" she said.

"Sure, sis!" Then he raised his hand.

"I feel a haiku coming on" he said, and my eyes widened.

Okay let me stop everything here, you see I haven't told you one thing about myself, I have an unnatural hatred for poetry. This is because I am abysmal at it, whenever I try it ends up being the most horrid creation ever, so you understand now why when he started throwing out a haiku I began to reach for my knives.

The only thing that stopped me from trying to cut the Greek god of the sun to ribbons was the fact that my father loves making a scene, so he turned back into a giant snake and wrapped Nico and me up in his tail.

"Now, now let's not get hasty son" he hissed, and I fought with him.

"Father, I'm just going to talk to him," I muttered, and everyone looked back at me as Nico and I were dragged off.

 **Messed with this one just a bit longer than the rest, went over it three times to try and get his attitude just right, and my opinion of the Hunters of Artemis out there. Not sexist, I actually enjoy strong women, girl punched me in the face once, and I ended up dating her for a long while after that, she was feisty.**

 **It's just the way Artemis swayed Bianca over to the idea of joining pissed me off, I personally couldn't imagine leaving my little brothers even if I knew they would be taken care of. Just a big brother thing I guess.**

 **Read, Review, Flame It's all good in the hood... or well The Army.**


	5. Five, Royal Flush, and Climbing Wall

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my characters, the rest belong to Rick Riordan, but I will be borrowing them.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 5**

 **Royal Flush and Climbing Walls**

We were dragged around the clearing for a long while, "so father, I have decided Nico will come under my wing as my apprentice" I said as we turned back around.

"Hmm, so the son of the ruler of death is going to join our little group? How fun. Don't worry child we shall make you strong" father hissed.

Nico nodded as we reached the group again, just in time as they were loading up into the van that was not there a few moments ago, however there are 3 gods present so I find myself not surprised. "C'mon Nico, I'm going to drop you next to your sister so that you may talk, when you are done I will be in the front" I said. Nico nodded again and we entered the van, I looked around and found Bianca near the back, so I escorted Nico toward her.

We received glares on our way towards the back, however they must have been at least wary of me since none of them tried to stop us, we stopped in front of her and I looked toward the hunters sitting next to her.

"My apologies but I believe these siblings have much to discuss and it would be great if he could sit here" I said.

They glared at me but Bianca asked them and they reluctantly moved, I nodded to Nico and he sat next to Bianca. I turned and walked back up towards the front of the van, I sat across from Apollo with my father however I felt like something was wrong. Then I noticed that since this was Apollo's vehicle, it would make sense that he would be the one driving. However, he can't do that sitting across from me so... wait what!

"Hold on, if you're here who's-" I was cut off and thrown against my father who grunted.

I quickly looked at the driver's seat "oh by Thor's prissy blonde hair" I said.

My father chuckled, I looked at Apollo who seemed very amused "what the hell is going on?" I asked and he laughed.

"I let Thalia here drive, little slower!" he yelled.

"Sorry! I've got it under control!" she yelled back, Percy managed to look out the window.

"Thalia, lighten up on the accelerator" he said and I snapped around to look out the window just in time to see smoke rising from the trees.

"My academy!" I yelled.

"Sorry! But I got it!" she yelled back and I turned around to look at her.

Her knuckles were white as she gripped the steering wheel, her eyes were wide and searching.

"Loosen up" Percy said.

"I'm loose!" she yelled back.

"No! No you aren't, if you were you wouldn't find it so prudent to try and burn down my forest" I said and I moved to kneel next to her seat.

"You're so stiff you remind me of a statue I saw once" I rub my chin in thought, "I think it was called, "Lady in Distress" I said and she glared at me.

"I'm fine" she said through gritted teeth.

I gave her a smirk "You. Aren't" I said simply, I reached for her hands.

"First things first, you need to loosen your grip" I said and slowly but surely I managed to stop her from choking the wheel. I slowly moved her hands until they were at 10 and 2.

"Hang a left" Apollo called and she nodded, but began to turn the wheel the wrong way so I stopped her.

"other left" I said and she nodded again.

Her eyes were still wide and staring "Okay. Blink if you keep staring the clouds are going to hypnotize you" I said she finally began blinking.

"How do you know?" She asked losing the glazed look.

"Because I've been staring at them" I mutter shaking my head from the beautiful fluffy white miracles called cloud.

"Little lower sweetheart, cape cod is freezing over" he said and I growled inwardly at the intimate name.

She jerked the wheel down and I heard someone scream, it sounded like Percy.

"He said a little" I said and I raised the wheel a bit, "There ya go" I said and she nodded, okay, eyes alert and focused, hands no longer suffocating the wheel, however she was still pale and stiff, I need to get her mind off driving.

"Try random questions" my father whispered and I nodded.

"So~ what's your favorite color?" I asked.

She jerked and we rose suddenly I gripped the seat to not fly back.

"Wha-what?" she asked.

"Favorite color. Do you have one?" I asked and she looked confused.

"What? Why?" she asked and I shrugged.

"Why not? So, are you going to answer the question or not?" I asked and she shook her head.

"B-blue" she said and I nodded.

"It's a beautiful color, much like your eyes" I said and a reddish tint rose in her face.

"Thanks, your eyes aren't bad either" she said with a glance.

"Favorite food?" I asked and she sighed.

"Hamburgers" she said.

"Steak, rare. Gives me more iron" I said I thought for a second.

"Favorite music" I asked

"Rock" she said immediately.

"Death Metal" I said.

"How about you ask one" I said.

"Uh, okay" she said and I noticed that she was no longer pale, still a bit stiff but I could see that leaving soon.

"uh, why death metal?" she asked and I rose an eyebrow, "because, because, I don't know... Oh! Because father wouldn't stop playing it during my training for a month straight and it sort of stuck" I said glaring at the god in question, who merely looked out the window innocently.

"What do you do for fun?" she asked

That one caught me off, "uh, I haven't really been bored for a long time. I used to read a lot" I said.

She laughed lightly "oh is that boring? Well what do you do Thalia?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I do activities around camp. Obstacle courses, capture the flag, dueling arena that kind of stuff" she said.

I frowned, that sounded a lot better than reading "damn. That sounds a lot more fun than what I do" I muttered and she laughed.

"That's because I know how to have fun" she said, and there it was she was completely calm and driving steady.

"And it would seem that I know how to calm you down" I said.

She looked shocked for a second then looked at me "flying like a pro, good job" I said and she smiled before returning her eyes to the sky.

I looked around and everyone seemed calm now, "good job son, keep it up and you'll have her in no time" father whispered and I chuckled, returning to my seat with a sigh.

After sitting around for a while, calling Uncle about going to a camp and some general planning with father we came upon a large camp surrounded by a forest, I got returned to Thalia's side.

"Is this it?" I asked and she nodded, "Alright so just bring us lower over the lake and ease on the brakes" I said.

She nodded, and the wheels of the van skimmed the lake causing steam to rise until we reached land and came to a slow stop, "picture perfect" I complimented.

The camp was rather beautiful; it was covered in a light dusting of snow that gave what I assumed to be the cabins the feeling of Ol' Saint Nick. I could see a strawberry field, a track, there was a huge house with a slight fire light coming from the top window, and there were tiny floating flames all around.

"They have a climbing wall!" I heard Nico say excitedly from beside me and it took a bit for me not to jump at his sudden appearance but I pulled it off, he is really quiet when he moves... I can use that, later Al, later, I looked where he was pointing and there was indeed a climbing wall just like Thalia said but.

"There is lava flowing down the wall" I said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah it adds a bit of challenge, you're not scared, are you?" Thalia asked from my other side.

I smirked "scared? No. Intrigued? Now that would be the word" I corrected with a wide grin.

Percy came up to us "come on guys I'll introduce you to Chiron. Hey Zoe, have you met-"

"yes I've met Chiron" Zoe said stiffly cutting Percy off.

"Tell him we will be in Cabin Eight. Hunters, follow me." she said, Grover offered to show them the way which Zoe refused however I don't think he got the idea because the word "no" suddenly wasn't a part of his vocabulary.

The Hunters began to leave with Grover while Bianca made her way over and whispered something in Nico's ear, I could have heard what was said if I wanted too but I didn't really care so if he wanted to, Nico could tell me. He just scowled and stepped away from her and closer to me, that had to be a metaphor for something but I am not really in the mood for digging into metaphors.

"Take care sweethearts!" I heard Apollo call after The Hunters, I could've sworn he was gone already. Wishful thinking on my part, "watch out for those prophesies, Percy. I'll see you soon" he said and I looked back at him.

"What do you mean?" Percy asked and I wanted the answer to that one too, but he just got back into the van "later, Thalia" he called, I frowned a bit "and, uh, be good!" he called before taking off.

There was something that threw me for a loop however, that smile he gave Thalia after telling her to "be good". No, no I didn't like that smile one bit,

"Noticed that, too did you? I wonder what it could mean" father said

"Apollo knows something, and it may have something to do with a prophecy" I said.

"Those are never fun" father said and I nodded, I looked over at Nico and I saw him talking with Percy.

"who's Chiron? I don't have his figurine" he asked and Percy shrugged

"Our activities director, he's . . . well you'll see" he said.

Nico glared at the backs of The Hunters "if those hunter girls don't like him that's good enough for me" he said, and chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder lightly.

We followed Percy through the camp and I noticed how empty it seemed to be, I would've expected there to be a larger number of people than the amount I was seeing.

"A lot of people don't stay here outside of summer do they" I stated and Percy nodded.

"Yeah we only have a small number of people who don't have a home to go back too, or would be attacked too much if they left camp" he said and I nodded.

"A summer camp that turns your child from an innocent demi-god to a battle-hardened fighter and cunning strategic planner. Sounds fun, however you better make sure the parents don't know about that" father said and I chuckled.

"I can practically hear the calls of complaint now" I said.

"Just what are you teaching our kids?! He just beheaded the neighbor's dog with a sword!" father said in a perfect representation of a stressed mother.

"I just wanna know where he even got the damn sword" I mocked back in a grumpy dad's voice.

The group chuckled at our antics as we headed toward the very large structure that was decorated with red and yellow flames. There was a flame crackling in the hearth once we got inside and the building smelled of hot chocolate, we came upon two people playing cards.

One had curly brown shoulder length hair and a shaggy beard, the only other thing of note about him was the fact that he was in a wheelchair and wearing a hoof printed sweater. The other male was wearing a horrid leopard skinned jogging suit and purple sneakers, this seemed ironic since he didn't seem like the type to go running, however I could be wrong when it came to people.

There was a golden laurel wreath that lay tilted across his curly black hair, and there was an odd smell coming from him. It was wine however it smelled off like it was before my time, primal would be a great word for it.

The bearded man looked up at us and smiled, "Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, what can I do for you? Who do you have here?" he asked looking at Nico, my father, and I.

He then looked over us again, "where's-" he was cut off by Grover running in.

"The Hunters are all moved in!" he yelled happily.

The bearded man looked confused "The Hunters?" he asked and the other man looked up finally.

"Oh lovely! And why would they be here?" he asked clearly not very happy at the idea of more people.

"It seems we have much to talk about then" the man said.

He looked at Grover "Grover please take our young friends here to the den and show them our orientation film" he said.

I frowned and looked to father, "go on son, I'll handle filling in the details" he said and my eyebrow rose, "and I'll make sure they know who was running the show" he laughed.

I nodded and followed Grover with Nico, we came into a well-furnished area with a large television set Nico and I sat on the couch waiting for Grover to get the video up.

"Is this movie G, or PG? Because Bianca-" I cut him off with a flick to the ear "ow! What was that for?" he whined rubbing the offended appendage.

"Bianca does not dictate what you do, I do and I say that you can watch whatever you want" I said shutting my eyes and leaning my head back.

"Cool" he said softly, "it's PG-13" Grover answered him before sitting down somewhere. The movie started and I let out a large sigh as I began to fall asleep.

I was awoken by Nico as the movie ended, "why were you asleep? That was awesome!" he said and I smirked.

"Because the movie didn't interest me, but please do go on to explain all of the cool things here." I said and he nodded as he began to relay all the "cool" information.

We made our way back to everyone, Nico began to go into what people tend to call a nerd-gasm when he spotted the man I now knew as Chiron, with a sigh I flicked him in the ear when he finished his mini conversation with Dionysus god of wine, which explained his odd smell.

"Ow! What was that for?" Nico whined.

"Remain calm, loud things are loud" I said and he looked confused.

"what does that mean?" he asked and I smirked.

"It means you're being annoying" I clarified.

Dionysus looked at me, "oh so you must be Mr. Impressive" he said and I rose an eyebrow. I looked to father, then back to Dionysus.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"You must feel pretty special, fighting a Manticore by yourself, and facing down Artemis and her hunters? Brilliant!" he said voice dripping with sarcasm.

My eyes narrowed "I don't feel special because I put a Manticore with delusions of grandeur in his place, and humbled a self-righteous goddess and her followers. No I am special, because I did it with no small amount of style, so yeah kind of a big deal" I said with a chuckle and he glared.

Chiron cleared his throat gaining the attention of everyone, "I don't believe that we have been introduced, your father has told us everything but who you two are" he said.

I looked to father and I knew he wanted to do it together, synchronized introductions are a thing that he loves. We gave a bow, "My name is Loki Ragnorak Odinson, son of Helbundi and Byleistr and adopted son of Odin. I am the god of trickery and fire, bringer of Ragnorak the one that brought the gods to their knees" he said with a smirk.

"I'm Alfred Loki Vonstein, son of Loki and Melissa Vonstein. Demi-God of wit and trickery, and soon the greatest being to walk Midgard" I said.

"A Norse god?" Chiron asked, father nodded and Dionysus snorted.

"Norse? I thought they went extinct or something" he chuckled and father lost his smile, I grabbed Nico and stepped back.

Dionysus's cards burst into flames in his hands, he jumped and dropped the cards but they were nothing but ash when they hit the floor. He looked over at us but didn't notice the fact that my father was standing behind him.

"Something wrong with Norse gods?" he asked, Dionysus turned only to see nothing, I looked over and noticed Chiron was sitting next to us in his wheelchair looking very confused as to how he got there.

"What's wrong? Can't keep up with the god of tricks?" father asked sitting across from Dionysus holding a hand of cards, he turned to stare at him from across the table.

Father smirked and laid down his hand, "Royal Flush" he said I chuckled then looked down to notice that vines were creeping in from all sides, I looked to Chiron and tapped him on the shoulder.

"If you'll excuse me Nico and I are going to go ahead and get out of here before father loses his temper" I said simply and he nodded.

I looked to Grover and noticed that he was already gone, smart Satyr, so I grabbed Nico by the shoulder and made a quick escape. We came out into the winter air and I looked around, I easily spotted Thalia making her way over to what appeared to be a court where a hunter and a kid were confronting each other.

I looked around and noticed Percy moving in the opposite direction, I tapped Nico on the shoulder, and motioned over to Thalia, he nodded and we were on our way. We made our way over to the confrontation and I saw the hunter with a basketball and a kid with a sword trying to kill each other.

"What's going on here!" Thalia yelled as we came up beside her, the hunter and the kid stopped and stared at her.

I leaned over "it looks like they were fighting" I stated and she snapped her head to the side to stare at me in surprise.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked.

I shrugged, then there was a crash and I turned around. I was met with a very winded and charred Dionysus standing outside what Nico told me was the Big House, it looked like he was waiting for something. I then noticed that my father was standing behind him, he whispered something in his ear and Dionysus spun around only to receive a heel to the chest which sent him flying back through the entryway.

Father turned and waved at us and I waved back, he smiled then sauntered his way back into the Big House. I turned back to Thalia and pointed.

"Father decided to teach Dionysus some manners" I said simply and she nodded still staring at the entryway father just disappeared through.

I left her to staring and looked back at the hunter and the kid with the sword who were also staring at the doorway. I cleared my throat loudly, and they all turned to look at me.

I looked at The Hunter "you already know me, so you know that was my father just now, I want you to really think about what you are about to do because if you do it, I will be forced to intervene" I said pointedly.

She glared at me, but after a moment of thought she merely scoffed and walked away, I then looked at the other kid.

"I don't know you and I don't care if I do, but this fights over, return to what you were doing" I said and he simply shrugged and walked away.

I turned and looked at Thalia, "so what were you doing?" I asked and she blinked at me a few times.

"Uh, I was taking care of a problem but now nothing" she said.

I looked around, "well what is there to do around here?" I asked and she shrugged.

"What do you want to do?" she asked and I noticed Nico hopping up and down.

I sighed, "yes Nico?" I asked.

"Climbing wall, climbing wall, climbing wall!" he yelled and I laughed at his excitement.

Well we went to the climbing wall, and we left singed, sweaty, and in Nico's case, very happy.

"That was so! Cool!" he yelled from over my shoulder.

"Calm down Nico, the only reason you're alive right now is because I had to save you from the lava 4 times" I muttered.

Thalia laughed, "you're just using that as an excuse because you lost" she said and I rolled my eyes.

"I had to save Nico 4 times and you still almost lost" I said and she scoffed.

"Please, I would beat you anytime" she said.

Nico wiggled and I shifted him on my shoulder, "stop wiggling Nico" I said.

"Why are you carrying him anyway?" Thalia asked as we reached the cabins.

"Well, when he finally reached the top of the wall. I noticed that his legs were shaking, and I'm pretty sure if I put him down he will fall" I said and he laughed.

"Nuh uh! I'm perfectly fine!" he yelled.

"Is that the truth?" I asked and he fell silent, probably thinking about it.

"Nope" he finally admitted and I nodded.

We finally reached a cabin, it was stone and marble and reminded me of the Temple of Zeus in Greece.

"Nice place" I noted, and followed her in as she threw back a thanks.

The cabin was very royal looking, shiny marble floors, pillars that circle a large area where the beds were supposed to be. There was one bed there however and it was a large queen sized, white framed gold sheet covered bed.

I whistled "lay in that and you will sink like the Titanic" I said she laughed.

"What let me see" Nico said and I turned around so Nico could look.

"ooh, comfy" he slurred and my eyebrow rose.

"Why do you sound drunk?" I asked and I felt him shrug.

"I'm hungry" he noted sullenly and I chuckled.

"That makes sense, the last thing you ate was dinner and it's about to be dinner time again" I said.

"It's been that long? Now I'm starving" he said miserably.

"Well I need to change then we can go to dinner" Thalia said moving over to the trunk at the end of her large bed. She extracted clothes and looked at us expectantly.

"What? Oh, you want us to leave? Well that's disappointing" I said causing her to laugh.

"Get out of here you perv" she said with a shake of her head, but the smile gave away her false disgust.

After Thalia changed into a black tank-top a pair of non-ripped skinny jeans, and a leather jacket with a fur-lined hood we headed out.

"Still carrying Nico?" she asked and I shrugged one shoulder.

"I'm pretty sure he's fine by now but I'm just not in the mood to put him down" I said.

"I'm light" Nico pointed out from my shoulder.

"You're also skinny, but don't worry we'll fix that" I said.

Thalia shrugged and we made our way to the dining hall, entering the hall I looked around "well, this is diverse" I said and Thalia nodded.

"Everyone is split based on their parent" she said.

I scoffed "diversity at a camp, isn't that just lovely" I said voice dripping with sarcasm but she merely shrugged.

"Well I'll see you guys after dinner" she said then began to move toward a lone table.

I rose an eyebrow, "are we not sitting with Thalia?" Nico asked.

"She doesn't think so, well I guess it's up to us to show her otherwise" I said and I moved to follow her.

I stopped and noticed Percy sitting at a lone table as well, "stupid isn't it" I heard father say.

I nodded "completely useless, why would they split up the campers?" I asked.

"Hi Loki" Nico called

"Hello Nico" father said with a smirk.

I looked at him and motioned at Percy, he nodded and we split up. I moved over to Thalia's table, set Nico down and sat next to him.

Thalia's eyes went wide "what are you doing here?" she whispered harshly, I looked at her as I grabbed a plate and filled it with food.

"Eating?" I said confused as I set the plate in front of Nico and set to preparing my own.

"You can't sit here" she said.

"I don't see why not, I mean I'm already sitting here and nothing is happening" I said simply.

"This is good" Nico said mouth full of steak and potatoes, I flicked him in the ear he swallowed and brought his hand to his ear.

"ow" he said.

"Mouth was full" I said and he nodded and apologized but I shrugged "it happens".

"Hello children" father said from across the table, I rose an eyebrow and noticed that I was now sitting next to Thalia, I looked over and saw Nico staring at father and Percy with a plate of food in front of him looking around confused.

"You love making an entrance" I stated and father nodded.

"How did I get here?" Percy asked looking at me.

"God" I said simply and he looked at father who gave a wave.

"There, now we're all here" father said looking around.

He looked around again however "oh forgot one person" he said then Annabeth appeared next to Percy.

"What, where?" she asked looking around "how?" she asked.

"God" Percy answered.

"Now. We're all here" father said, the food was good but the conversation turned out to be rather embarrassing.

"Then he tripped and the chimera flew over his head and off the cliff" father said and I banged my head on the marble table for the hundredth time.

Everyone besides Nico looked rather disturbed "father no one wants to hear the many blunders in my monster training" I said.

"Hey, at least I waited until we were done eating to start the impaling stories" he said.

"Did all of that really happen?" Nico asked me.

I nodded "in my head yes, but the pain was very real" I said with a shudder.

"That's disturbing" Annabeth pointed and I shrugged.

"Well hey, getting your arm burned off by a dragon really gives you a high pain tolerance, so there's that" I said.

Father looked over at Nico and smiled "it'll be your turn soon" he said.

"Cool" Nico said and I shook my head "not cool" I sighed.

I looked around and noticed that the only other table that was actively having fun was the Artemis table, they were laughing and joking around like a large happy family. Zoe the lieutenant of The Hunters was sitting at the head of the table, she seemed to take the role of mother, she wasn't laughing as much but she was smiling from time to time, Bianca on the other hand was arm wrestling and laughing as well and I didn't like that. Not one bit.

 **Ugh, college and the military can really eat up someones time, but I am now on academic leave so that gives me more time to work on this little story, I'll be taking full advantage of that.**

 **Read, Review, Flame, it's all the same to me, attention is attention I always say.**

 **Thanks for reading so far.**


	6. Six, Dreams, and Violent Serenades

**Disclaimer, Rick Riordan is the proper owner of all things mentioned in this story, except for my lovely character.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 6**

 **Dreams and Violent** **Serenades**

Our merrymaking was interrupted by Chiron, he began a toast to the gods and welcomed The Hunters to the camp, he even welcomed my father and me to the camp. I chuckled a bit as Dionysus flinched at the mention of my dad, he then welcomed Nico separately to the camp seeing as how Bianca is a part of The Hunters, still a bit peeved at that mind you.

We left and walked Percy and Annabeth to their separate cabins, we then walked back to Thalia's cabin where she turned to look at us. "Where are you guys sleeping anyway? Wait why is Nico back on your shoulder?" she asked.

I looked over to hear his light steady breathing, so I shifted him, so he was in my arms. "Sleeping" I whispered, and she nodded, "father should have a cabin ready, but if you're offering your bed I wouldn't be opposed to it," I offered with a sly grin.

She hit me in the shoulder, turning beet red, "perv" she mumbled, and I laughed.

"only to you Thalia."

She sighed before crossing her arms "well; today was eventful. Oh, and thanks again for saving Annabeth, I don't know what would have happened if you didn't" she said and I smirked.

"I already told you that" I mentioned.

She rolled her eyes "Yeah, yeah very dangerous quest to save her, well goodnight" she said as she walked into her cabin.

I stared at her for a while waiting for the... yep the turnaround, she turned back, and I smiled she returned the gesture before entering her cabin. I turned around and scanned the area for my father only to realize that I had no idea where he went, I walked around the camp until we reached an open area amongst the cabins.

Looking around again I still saw no one, we're lucky there was a field stopping any real cold to mess with Nico.

"Father, I wish to know where we are sleeping so that Nico may get to bed," I said getting a little irritated.

"Oh no need to be snippy son the cabin is right behind you" I heard father's voice from behind me.

I turned around and saw what I would assume to be a cabin but really was a god damned mansion "really, dad?" I asked as I stared at the three story, black marbled, green double-doored, gold serpent symbolized, and silver gargoyle-guarded mansion.

I brought Nico into the mansion with a sigh as father led us to his room, surprisingly he brought us down into the basement or what would have been a basement. However, this basement had jade green carpet, black marble pillars leading up to the large queen sized bed, his bed sheets were green, and his comforter was black with a grinning flaming skull that had a gold serpent symbol embedded on its forehead.

"Fancy," I muttered with a nod as I brought Nico to the bed and tucked him in.

"You should bring him with you in capture the flag tomorrow," father said.

I looked at him as we left the room, "how did you know I was going to- oh never mind" I said forgetting that father could read minds was a constant.

I nodded "Yeah, I could teach him the importance of strategy with the game," I said as he led me up the stairs.

"You can also show off for Thalia as well," he pointed out and I chuckled

"Two birds with one stone".

He smiled, "don't worry I'll show you the rest of the mansion when you can walk straight" he said.

I was confused by this until I bumped into the wall of the staircase.

"Damn, I think I used a little more energy than I thought," I said, father nodded as he grabbed me by the arm and flung it over his shoulder.

"You protected yourself from a magical onslaught by a goddess, used a rather large amount of magic, fought a Manticore, saved a girl, kept a girl from having a mental breakdown while flying the sun, and faced down all of Artemis's Hunters by yourself," he said.

"Busy day, bed sounds fun," I groaned

"Not to mention that you found yourself a little love interest," he added lightly, and I smacked him in the chest for his cheek causing him to laugh.

We got to my room which was on the top floor; there was a huge bay window overlooking the campgrounds. The room was set up the same way as Nico's, with the only difference being that my bed had a silver serpent across the black comforter. I got in the soft bed and rolled over, Father asked if I wanted a bedtime story, but I flicked him off before completely passing out to the sound of his laughter.

I was awoken by the act of someone jumping on my bed and shaking me insistently, I tried to ignore it and sink deeper into the cozy darkness of sleep but whoever was on top of me seemed not to notice my reluctance.

"C'mon Al! You've been asleep forever!" Nico shouted, I groaned and turned over effectively flipping him off the bed.

I sat up and looked at his confused form on the floor; it seemed that father took liberties with his outfit for he was now wearing blue jeans, black sneakers, a black shirt with a flaming laughing skull, a gold chain attached to the hip of his jeans, a jade serpent necklace, and a black leather jacket.

I nodded in approval, "father sure knows how to dress people" I yawned getting up "yep Loki- I mean uncle is awesome!" Nico said excitedly.

"Glad someone knows it," father said from the other side of the room, I rolled my eyes and went to grab the coat that was at the edge of the bed. I grabbed it then stared at it.

Apparently, he decided that I needed a change in attire as well, I held a shorter long coat, black with green buttons, and the symbol of Loki embedded on the cuffs in gold. I frowned then shrugged, it could have been worse I thought looking over at Nico I noticed that there was a full body mirror behind him, I looked myself over and noticed other changes as well.

I had a black turtle neck on, black slacks that led down to dark green loafers, a jade serpent necklace glinted at me from around my neck.

I looked at father "green loafers?" I asked, and he nodded.

"I thought you could pull them off, and my ideas are never wrong," he said.

I looked at myself again, then back to him, "and where did my daggers go?" I asked.

He pointed at my lower back, I reached and felt the handles of my knives secured in a holster.

He then looked at my turtleneck, "that acts like a Kevlar vest, it also absorbs magic, to what extent...I have no idea, but it will be fun testing it" he grinned, and I groaned at the idea.

We left the mansion and made our way to the dining hall; I noticed that some people were staring at the mansion and I could only shake my head. It seemed that last night changed nothing, as Thalia, Percy, and Annabeth were split up once again. So, I motioned for Nico to go to Thalia's table and he nodded, then I nodded to Father, and we split up.

I moved to Percy and flung him over my shoulder; he yelped in surprise as I grabbed his plate of eggs, bacon, and pancakes and walked over to Thalia's table as well. I sat him down on one side and set his plate in front of him, then I moved over and sat in between Nico and Thalia.

"Morning Thalia," I said with a smirk as she looked at Percy's rather shocked face and laughed.

"You really don't care about the rules, do you?" she asked turning to me, and I looked at her oddly.

"Rules? I'm sorry what are those?" I asked.

She laughed again as Annabeth appeared next to Percy and my father appeared on his other side. It was rather entertaining to see him jump twice.

"Stop doing that!" he yelled, father laughed while I got to setting up plates for Nico and me.

Breakfast was entertaining, and soon we were walking around outside in a large group, it was then that Grover came running up to us out of breath.

"Guys, something is wrong," he said, and my eyebrow rose.

"Care to explain?" I asked as he only stared at us.

"Artemis is missing, and Miss Nightshade wants to go out and find her" father said.

I stared at father eyes wide, "pardon? Artemis the Goddess is missing?" I asked.

He shrugged "it's in his head, and there was no doubt in his mind that the dream was real," he said.

Grover nodded; however he was giving Percy a look, it looked like he wanted to speak to him alone.

"Hey Nico, you wanna try the climbing wall again?" I asked, and he jumped up and down excited.

Thalia smirked "that ready to get beat again?" she asked.

Everyone but Percy and Grover went, just like I thought as it was obvious he had something important to tell Percy. We went to the rock wall, and once again I lost to Thalia because I had to go back for Nico multiple times. He didn't see how dangerous this really was, but since I was there, I found that I could let it slide, especially because we were at the camp.

However, I had to set one thing straight, so I told Nico to wait with Annabeth who was reading a book at the time over to the side with my father.

"Why?" he whined which I flicked him in the ear for.

"No whining, I have to teach Thalia here who the best is," I said with a smirk.

"We already learned who the best is remember?" I heard her say which made Annabeth laugh.

I nodded, "Alright, Nico just this once stay out," I said, he nodded and walked over to sit with father who started to do magic tricks for him. I stared at them for a bit and shook my head; father was acting like any other uncle in the world.

Just with godly power, it's rather hard to see him destroying Asgard out of greed and spite.

"C'mon Al! I need to beat you again" Thalia called, and I grinned, this was gonna end faster than she thought.

We stepped up to the bottom of the wall and got ready; I took a second to forge a path in my mind that would take the least amount of time. I had just got it down when Thalia yelled for us to start, I instantly leaped to the far rock that protruded farther out than the rest. I stomped and shot up rocks before grabbing an indent and swinging myself toward another rock to jump from, I kept this up, and when I looked over, I noticed that Thalia was keeping up rather well with me.

It seemed to be a little harder on her though which made sense but still to keep up with my pace was impressive; this went on until around halfway up where the lava became frequent and things got bad.

"Go, Al!" I heard Nico shout from below.

"You got it, Thalia!" I heard Annabeth yell in return.

I looked over and furrowed my brow at Thalia, she was keeping up, but I was starting to notice the signs of fatigue. I thought about warning her but stopped; she had a very determined look in her eye, so I just kept going. She wouldn't slow down if I told her too anyway, sure she'll lose, but I'm sure she will not be disappointed in herself, I sure won't be.

3/4ths of the way up was when it happened however, Thalia was tired and sweating due to the proximity with the lava around us. So, it was only a matter of time before she slipped; and she chose the worst possible place to do so.

"Thalia!" I heard Annabeth cry from below and my head snapped to the side just in time for me to see Thalia slam into the wall knocking her unconscious.

Her line kept her from falling, but her slamming into the wall caused the lava to jerk and begin to descend closer to her. I quickly unhooked myself and kicked diagonally down the wall; I grabbed a protruding rock from the wall to stop my descent and swung myself toward the unconscious Thalia.

I quickly pulled my knife and cut the line that the Lava was now slipping down and grabbed her, I flipped end over end while clutching her bridal style and slammed into the ground, I heard a couple popping noises then everything went dark.

I was being shaken again; I assumed all that had happened was simply a dream, so I groaned and rolled over. Only to realize that was an idiotic thing to do as I was hit with a sudden pain that had me one armed handspring to my feet. Only to become irritated as there was another shock of pain in my left leg, so I took a knee and clutched my left arm to stop the annoying throbbing. My vision cleared from its dazed unconscious state, and I noticed I was outside next to the climbing wall while everyone was looking at me with worried expressions bar my father.

I looked back confused, "what happened?" I asked as I noticed Thalia had her arm outstretched.

I looked at her then the events that took place came back to me, "Oh yeah, you fell, I caught you, then I hit the ground" I said with a nod.

My arm and leg throbbed again, and I looked down at the annoyances, my arm was dislocated at the shoulder, and my leg was dislocated at the knee I sniffed with disdain then called Nico over.

"Are you okay Al?" he asked worried, and I nodded.

"Yeah just do me a favor and hold my arm" I said handing him my dislocated arm.

"Don't let go alright?" I asked him, and he nodded, when I felt he had a good grip I shot my body down then out, and finally, I felt the arm pop, and I slammed toward Nico popping it back in and nearly sending Nico to the floor, but I grabbed his arm.

"Thanks, buddy," I said, and he nodded with a mix of disgust and awe, an odd combination if you ask me but I digress.

I stood leaning heavily on my right leg then grabbed my left knee; my body tried to tell me that pain was a factor, but I ignored it's whining as per usual. I pressed down then snapped the knee back to where it belonged; there was a pop and a satisfying release of pressure on the knee. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding then stood properly and hopped up and down to get the blood flowing again.

I noticed that everyone was still staring at me and I looked at them oddly "what?" I asked after they didn't notice my look of confusion.

"Are you alright?" Thalia asked, and I nodded.

"Why do people keep asking me that?" I asked, and that's when Annabeth jumped in.

"Are you kidding? You crashed down on your shoulder from 5 stories up and then relocated your shoulder and knee! You need medical attention" she said, and I looked at her oddly.

"I'm a demi-god, and I'm pretty sure I rolled when I landed, I'm all right," I said with a shake of my head.

We began to make our way to finding Percy and Grover so we could do something to occupy our time. I trailed behind as I watched Nico interact with everyone, he seemed to be getting along with them very well. I smirked as Nico began talking about Mytho-magic again, and I started laughing when father decided to transform into every monster Nico talked about scaring the group and the random campers around.

I glanced over to my left side and noticed that Thalia was walking next to me, she seemed to be abashed, and I noticed a slight red tinge in her cheeks. It was then that she looked up and punched me in the shoulder, it didn't hurt, but it made me look at her fully.

"Hey, Al thanks for back there. It would have been...bad if you didn't save me" she said finding the ground to be fascinating. I grinned and leaned over till I was right next to her ear.

"Anytime beautiful" I whispered, she jumped, and her eyes widened.

I'm pretty sure I saw a spark fly off of her before I was punched in the shoulder again. I rose an eyebrow and smirked when she walked a bit faster to get away from me.

"Aw she's embarrassed how cute" I heard father say.

"Shut up!" she snapped back making him laugh.

Everyone else was confused at the exchange, we found Percy walking back from what looked to be and confirmed by Nico to be the javelin throwing range. He seemed to be deep in thought, Annabeth called for him, and he looked up with a rather surprised look on his face before turning on a dime and heading in the opposite direction.

I looked at Nico, and he relayed to me that the Pegasus stables were that way.

"That's quite the memory you got there Nico" I said, and he smiled.

"Yeah? I've always been good at remembering things" he said, and I nodded. It was more than likely due to the constant reading of those Mytho-magic cards he has, and it might have to do with his Greek nature.

A sudden urge overcame me, a very recognizable urge, one that befalls all Norse gods and entities of the like at one point or another, the urge to fight. I stopped abruptly and grabbed Nico by the shoulder.

"Is there some form of sparring area in this place?" I asked, I knew the answer would be yes but well I enjoy giving Nico the reigns, he nodded before pointing east of us.

I looked to the rest of the group, Annabeth was still looking back at where Percy headed while father was bothering the hell out of Thalia. More than likely with my name and the things she may wish to do to me, I cleared my throat getting their attention.

"Sounds fun" father said instantly.

"I hate it when you do that," I said with a sigh.

"What sounds fun?" Thalia asked as her blush died down.

"He wishes to show you the extent of his excellent fighting prowess" he said causing her to raise an eyebrow and smirk at me.

"Yes, I want to fight big people to impress Thalia, hoping that she will soon express her undying love for me and we can live happily ever after, with babies" I said with a straight face. Annabeth coughed while Thalia laughed causing me to smirk.

"Did I say something funny?" I asked, she stopped laughing and got wide eyed causing my grin to expand, I turned and motioned for Nico to lead the way.

The arena was just a training grounds separated from the rest of the camp when we made it through the thicket of trees, Nico waved his arms in the direction of the large group of people fighting.

"Ta'da," he said jovially, and I chuckled before ruffling his hair.

"You won't run out of people to fight at least," Thalia said, and I looked over at her.

"Oh I will, trust me" I grinned before making my way down there.

Father was already down there and was interrupting everyone's fights.

"Quiet down young ones" he shouted, and since they knew he was a god already from the last feast, they instantly shut up.

"Gather around, for you are about to have a fight of your life," he said as they made a circle him, I groaned as I made my way there only to suddenly stop as I appeared next to father.

"You will now get the chance to face my son," he said, and I heard a few snickers in the crowd causing me to frown.

"If you manage to beat him, I will grant you one favor," he said, and then the whispers began, a favor from a god was a big thing especially from a god who didn't have to follow the rules that theirs do.

I looked up at him and glared "really?" I asked, and he clapped me on the shoulder.

"It's okay son I have complete faith in you, and if you lose I'll just put you back in training with Nico" he said, and I shuddered.

So, he set everything up, and there was soon a large rack of weapons and a small black stone arena rose from the ground, the ones waiting took their seats along with Nico, Annabeth, and Thalia while I stood in the ring. I had taken my coat off and handed it to father who then gave it to Thalia, I didn't want it to get dirty, and I rolled up my sleeves.

25, 25 sons and daughters of Ares I had to fight along with who I would assume to be their leader, a rather physically fit girl who stood with a cocky grin that I believe should only be seen on me. The first one grabbed a spear and shield while I stabbed my blades into the sand that accompanied the arena, I cracked my neck and waited for the go ahead.

"Begin!" father shouted, and the boy lunged at me.

The spear head came within inches of my face as I shot forward, grabbing his arm I flipped him over my shoulder, and he slammed onto his side. I reared back and kicked his shield causing him to slide across the sand and leaving a large dent in the shield. The boy coughed before falling unconscious, so father called the match, there was stunned silence as the other Ares kids tried to fathom what they just saw, it was quite amusing, but now that I had fought my first battle the thirst had grown.

I hopped back to my original position as father created a floating stretcher to take him away.

"Nnnnnnext!" father called, and another hopped down from the stands.

He was quite large, and as expected went for a weapon to match that size, a battle axe was soon set upon his shoulder as he grinned down at me. He was only about an inch taller than me, but his bulk really was quite impressive.

"What do they feed you?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Eggs" he growled.

"Begin!" father yelled and I stepped to the side as the axe crashed down.

I chuckled and stomped on the handle keeping it embedded "try again?" I asked, and he yelled before swinging a giant fist at me, I leaned back and placed a picture-perfect kick to his chin as I backflipped away.

For an average sized person that would have been all she wrote, but I guess he wasn't what we could call normal, even for a demi-god, he held his jaw before ripping his axe from the sand. I whistled before he rushed me again, he gave a series of wild swings that I found no effort in dodging, it would seem like he was the type to lift weights to gain muscle and forego learning how to use them. I leaned back as he missed another horizontal swing before sweeping his legs out from under him, he fell to the ground, and I was upon him in a second. I kicked his weapon to the side, and then palm thrust him in the chin, rocking the brain and putting him out like a light.

This went on for an hour before I finally stood against the last three fighters, I was winded but uninjured which definitely put a dent in their ego.

"Looks like we've reached the last 3! Dare you take on the man that has run through your companions like a hot knife through butter?" father said to the three.

The two males seemed wary of me while the female stood tall and scowled.

"Of course we do" she thundered.

"Well then! I love the spirit! So, here's what I'm gonna do for you, three on one final fight, if you take him down you all get a favor, sound good?" he asked, and I frowned at him before turning to walk to the stands where the group sat.

I sighed before leaning over the rail to look at them "any of you got some water?" I asked looking at them, but they shook their heads before Thalia suddenly handed me a water bottle.

"Loki said I should hold this" she said and I smirked before slowly taking the bottle, making sure to have as much contact with her hand as possible.

Her eyebrows rose and her jaw dropped a bit causing my smirk to widen "why, thank you" I said before downing the whole thing.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, just let me clean up" I said turning around.

"Don't take Clarisse lightly" Thalia called.

"She's very good" Annabeth added, and I turned to them.

"I'm pretty sure I passed being good a while ago" I returned with a chuckle causing them to smirk.

I got back to my spot to see that the three were fully geared, they reminded me of the Spartans, and the feeling they exuded was one of determination. This fight wouldn't be boring at least, one of the males held dual short swords, the other had a trident and net while the female Clarisse carried a spear and shield.

"You ready?" father asked me, and I smirked "always," I said causing him to nod.

"Exactly" he added before turning to them "you ready?" He asked, and Clarisse banged her large shield as the males got into a proper fighting stance.

Father nodded before stepping back "fight!" he yelled, and the dual bladed man rushed me, I met him mid-way and began swaying out of the way of his blades.

He grunted at the effort to hit me and did a dual vertical swing that I side-stepped; I gave a solid shot to his ribs before attempting a round house only for my leg get caught by a net. The man grunted from the blow but recovered quickly enough to slash at me; I leaned back then the net pulled causing my right leg to snap back. I followed the momentum and popped a handstand to deliver a kick to the man's chest knocking him to the ground; I was pulled back to a stand by the net and turned to see the tip of a trident speeding for my chest.

I dodged but the tip grazed my shirt I then realized that father must have removed the enchantment as I looked down to see a cut in the material and a small slash on my chest, my hand came up and gripped the trident. I pulled forward causing him to lose his balance before bringing my foot up to give a solid front kick to his chest forcing the trident from his hands and sending him sprawling to the ground.

I felt something behind me, and I quickly turned to block with the trident only to be lifted into the air by a shield, I flew back a few feet before landing gracefully. I saw Clarisse glaring at me from under her helm before cutting the net with the trident, giving a battle roar she rushed me, she swung her spear at my side, but I deflected it with the trident only for her to twist and aim a shield strike for my head. I planted the trident and used it to kick the shield away, she spun again and knocked the trident from the ground making me lose my balance and almost fall.

She was good; I thought as my hand hit the sand and I spun a kick hitting the side of her helm, she stumbled but didn't fall to the ground, so I popped back to my feet and stared her down. I saw her glance over my shoulder for a split second, so I ducked letting the dual swords sail over my head before side kicking the male in the chin knocking him out cold.

My eyes never left hers, and she growled, "gonna have to try a bit harder than that" I taunted hoping her anger would force her to attack, and as usual, I was correct as she rushed me yet again. She jabbed twice with the spear which I weaved out of the way of before she spun to take my head off with her shield. I couldn't just allow that to happen, so I dropped and swept her legs out from under her, she hit the sand hard allowing me to wind up a kick and slam it into her shield forcing her to roll wildly away from me before finally coming to her feet.

I saw the dent in her shield and apparently so did she for the next thing I knew the shield was hurtling for my face. I knew she was using it as a diversion so instead of dodging right into her trap I merely snatched the shield from the air to use it as I blocked her incoming strike. The spear bounced off the shield, and I parried forcing her off balance before tossing the shield up and kicked it into her helm. She stumbled back which gave me the opening I needed to spin and kick her square in the chest, she coughed and groaned as she bent over, so I decided to finish the fight with an axe kick to the back of her helmet. Her face hit the sand, and her body went still, all was silent for a few moments before father appeared to my right to break said silence with his special brand of loud.

"Aaaaaand there you have it, folks! a decisive victory for Mr. Vonstein! Give him a round of applause!" he yelled jovially and surprisingly enough the spectators, and the contestants began applauding.

Everyone looked completely fine as father worked his unrestricted magic to heal all injuries done to clothing, bodies, and weapons.

"And as a participation reward!" he said while snapping his fingers.

All the body armor and weapons of the Ares camp was upgraded to the finest arms and armor that could be made.

"Courtesy of the Norse armory" he whispered causing me to chuckle.

Everyone cheered in approval and went about testing their new equipment "oh and you can keep the new training arena" he said with a wave before he dragged me off towards the rest of the group.

"That was awesome!" Nico yelled as he ran up to me, I was about to respond before a soft body promptly tackled me, I took a step back as Thalia laughed in my ear.

I returned the hug which soon made her realize what she was doing before she jumped back red staining her face, she cleared her throat a couple of times.

"That was impressive" she said finally getting herself back under control.

"Impressive huh? Well, if that's how I get congratulated I may have to challenge the rest of the cabins to unorthodox competitions" I said with a smirk causing the red to return with less intensity.

"Smooth" dad resounded in my head, and I elbowed him in the arm playfully as he gave a look of complete innocence that did not belong on the face of the trickster god.

 **Read, Review, Flame it's all love to me**

 **Sorry for the term of absence, the Army is rather taxing, thanks for reading this far.**


	7. Seven, Date, and The Invincible Nico

**Disclaimer. Sadly, I own nothing but my character, all rights go to Rick Riordan, but I will admit to extreme fun messing with his work.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 7**

 **Date and The Invincible Nico**

My father turned to me a manic gleam in his eyes and I stepped back, instantly cautious of whatever plan he had in his head.

"It's almost time for capture the flag, but I think we have time for you to get your reward" he said with a smile and I shook my head, absolutely refusing any rewards he had in mind because my father is a sick god sometimes.

"Nooooo, whatever you are thinking, is an absolute negative" I said resolutely but he merely chuckled.

"Oh son, it's not about what I'm thinking" he said before he snapped his fingers.

I looked around at my new surroundings, I was in a clearing, possibly in the forest we passed on the way over to the training grounds, I finally looked in front of me, and found a very decorated table with a red silk cover and a glass of what I knew as Norse wine straight from Valhalla.

Across from me sat Thalia in... a black dress that had my mind screech to a halt. She looked like a punk goddess with her black eyeliner and a light appliance of black lipstick, he hair was redone and slightly longer as it now brushed her chin. It still held its wild appearance but the way the hair fanned out in different directions made it breathtaking, not to mention the strip of blue dyed hair that flowed across her face just barely passing her cute nose.

I could tell from her eyes that she was just as confused as I was but the way she stared at me made me wonder what father did to my appearance, once again.

"How?" she started.

"God" I said with a shrug cutting her off.

She nodded before she noticed what she was wearing and the new hair style she sported.

"Really!" she shouted at the surrounding woods causing me to chuckle.

"You look lovely Thalia" I stated causing another blush to lightly dust her cheeks before a grin formed on her face.

"You don't look too bad yourself" she admitted and the look she gave me I will admit got me a little hot under the collar.

The way her eyes sparkled in mirth had me a dazed as she chuckled

"If you're planning to catch flies that's the way to do it" she said and I snapped my mouth shut with an audible click.

"And how are we doing this lovely afternoon" my father's voice sounded to my right.

"I said whatever you were thinking was a no father, actually I said it was an absolute negative if I remember correctly" I sighed turning to him.

He was sporting a butlers outfit, complete with bow tie and black tuxedo coat, holding trays that smelled wondrous.

"And I remember saying that it wasn't about what I was thinking son" he chuckled as he set the trays down in front of us.

"So, you were thinking of a candle light dinner with me? How sweet" Thalia said with a grin.

"Why yes, how else am I supposed to woo you into being the mother of my children?" I asked and she gaped.

Father laughed "you shouldn't play the embarrassment game with my son, we have no shame" he said and I grinned.

She smirked "well he's gonna have to try harder than that to get me to mother anything" she said and I pouted causing her to laugh.

The dinner consisted of steak, dragon steak to be exact, wait a minute... "alright when the hell did you kill a dragon?" I asked abruptly, he merely smirked "when you were fighting the Ares Cabin".

Thalia looked at him "but you were the announcer" she said confused.

"Clone" I stated looking back at him "and let me guess, you knew there was no way I was gonna lose huh" I asked and he smirked.

"Wouldn't be my son if you did" he said with a chuckle.

With an exaggerated twirl he popped from existence, leaving Thalia and I to eat the steak which was cooked to perfection.

"This is really good, what was it again?" she asked after swallowing and I looked at her.

"Dragon" I emphasized taking a sip from my wine.

She nodded, "never even seen one, let alone think that I would be eating it one day" she laughed and I shrugged.

"We tend to break people's preconceived notions about life" I said idly causing her to chuckle.

"I've noticed that, from what I've seen so far you are easily the strongest Demi-god I've met" she admitted.

I smirked "when you get trained by a god like Loki, you either become the best or you become dead" I said with a sigh.

She looked down at her plate "wish my dad would do something like that" she said.

I looked at her with sympathy "I'm sure if your pantheon of gods didn't have a silly rule banning them from doing so he would train you" I said and she looked up at that.

"They have a what?" she asked and I looked at her.

"You didn't know? Yeah, they have a rule that bans them from having any real impact on the outcome of their children, at least the big three do" I said.

"Why?" she asked leaning forward and I shrugged.

"Father didn't tell me, so he either doesn't know or thinks it will be extremely entertaining for us to try and find out" I chuckled.

She looked thoughtful for a few moments so I decided to change the subject "so. How did you come to be here?" I asked and she looked up.

"What?" she asked coming from her thoughts, I smiled lightly.

"How did you end up here? In camp Half-Blood?" I clarified.

"oh, well" she said going silent, hmm seems to be a touchy subject.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to" I said softly.

"I know, it's just not a story to be told over dinner" she said.

I nodded completely understanding "like stories of the many deaths of Alfred?" I threw out with a chuckle and she laughed.

"Yeah like that, ya know most parents would talk about embarrassing baby pictures, not death by tree branch" she returned.

I shook my head "the messed-up part was that I killed the monster, but no I died so restart the level" I mumbled.

"Aww it's okay you got it eventually" she laughed "yeah after 3 more horrible deaths" I groaned but smiled at her mirth.

The dinner continued flawlessly, and I had to admit when it came to flirting she gave as good as she got, sad to say she had me speechless a few times with some of her more daring suggestions.

"So, you two were having a conversation about cats ruling the world before we showed up? Wow, I was expecting something a bit more devious" she said with a shake of her head.

"Now Thalia, I'll have you know that cats are quite devious by my standards" father said from the side, once again only years of experience kept me from jumping like she did.

"You get used to that" I said but father shook his head.

"No you don't, you just get really good at looking unfazed" he threw at me and I nodded my head in begrudging agreement.

"Alas, this beautiful candlelight dinner must come to an end" he said with a wave of his hand wiping the table from existence, we stood and soon the chairs were gone as well.

"So, are you gonna fix my hair?" she sniped at father while messing with the lone blue lock of hair, father looked at her then to me.

"I like it" I said with a shrug and he nodded.

"As do I, as do I. So nope" he finally answered with a shake of his head and she sighed before blowing the lock from out of her eye.

"Great, well are you gonna change his hair back?" she asked and I rose an eyebrow.

"Wait, what did you do to my hair?" I asked him.

"I made it more like mine" he said simply and I glared before bringing my hand up to feel it.

Instead of grabbing the twists that were normally there I got a handful of silky hair, I pulled it down in front of my eye and stared.

"Now, how does having silky black hair look even remotely right on a person of my…color?" I asked.

He chuckled "because you're my son and can pull of just about anything" he stated and Thalia nodded.

"It does look good, surprisingly" she agreed.

I sighed "well at least it's not in my face, like those mutinous twists" I growled under my breath.

"Oh, thanks for reminding me" he said and with a wave my hair fell forward a bit. I guess it was held back by the band I usually had on because the twists, well strands now, fell forward back into my line of sight.

"Irritated, irritated and I hate you" I growled at him

"Well Thalia seems to think it's, "hot" so there's that" he said.

"Get out of my head!" she yelled and I smirked.

"The hair stays" I announced strongly much to fathers' amusement and Thalia's embarrassment.

He motioned for us to follow him as we left, wherever we were, we came to the edge of the clearing and after breaking through the trees found ourselves near a large group of people standing around. I looked back to see the forest we just exited.

"Interesting" I mumbled before looking down to see my normal clothes were back as were Thalia's though her hair was still the same.

We made our way over to the group and Nico rushed over to us followed by Percy and the rest.

"Where were you? What did you want? Was it cool? What happened to your hair?" he asked at a mile a minute.

I chuckled "apparently in the forest, a candle lit dinner with our esteemed Thalia, yes it was rather cool, and Father happened to my hair" I answered easily.

"Why did you want dinner? Were you hungry?" he asked and I laughed.

"I shall teach you the art of courting later" I responded.

"Courting? Oh! You wanted a date" he said.

The fact that he understood what I meant gave me a slight surprise but I nodded nonetheless.

"Is Thalia going to be my cousin?" he asked and I looked at him strangely as did she.

"Well Loki is my uncle now, and you're his son making you my cousin, so if you marry Thalia that makes her my cousin also" he elaborated with a smile and I laughed, while Thalia sputtered, and I swear more sparks shot off her.

"Not yet kid, not yet" I finally answered, much to Thalia's embarrassment.

Nico informed me that he had eaten dinner with the others while me and Thalia were, indisposed for a while, I looked around at the other entries and noticed that The Hunters weren't happy to be here. They stood huddled together, looking more like the little girls they actually were than trained monster killing machines, Zoe kept glaring at Chiron and I would guess it had something to do with the missing goddess.

Everyone seemed to be getting ready for capture the flag, and I made a quick count of the teams, there were thirteen people on The Hunters side but only eleven on ours, but now that Thalia and I have made our return the teams split even, how lovely. I recognized some Ares cabin kids and wondered why they weren't still messing with the literal armory my father gave them, but when they nodded in my direction it occurred to me that I may have gained the respect of the Ares cabin in my selfish lust for battle... Not complaining.

Nico turned to me and held up a sword, "Al! This is awesome! Do you think we get to kill the other team members?" he asked excitedly.

Thalia held a rather shocked expression after that little question and I chuckled before patting his shoulder.

"I don't believe so, immortal or not it would be…problematic if you stuck a sword through any of their chests, oh and no sword for you" I said swiping the overly large weapon from his grasp.

He made a whining noise and I flicked him in the ear, Father decided to make an appearance then.

"Nico don't whine, hold your necklace" he informed and Nico looked a bit confused before doing so.

There was a flash and Nico's right arm was now adorned with what seemed to be crossbow, a golden snake curled up his forearm and I could see the arrow tip peeking out from its gaping mouth, a short black blade was present under the snakes head and fit his size perfectly extending out about a foot from his hand.

He gaped for a long moment before he looked like he was about to pass out with excitement, I grabbed his arm lightly and he looked at me still star-struck before waving his crossbow at me.

"Breathe, breathe, and stop waving that at me before I get shot" I said batting it away, as I didn't want to experience Darwinism first-hand.

He took a few breathes and resumed his admiration of the weapon on his arm.

"It shoots poison arrows, and the blade is coated in the same poison, though I diluted the poison for this little exercise so it will only put people to sleep, have fun" he said with a wave before popping from existence, that man only appears to show off how powerful he is I swear.

"Blue team! Follow me!" I heard Thalia yell, when did she walk away from me? The crowd cheered and followed after her, Nico made to move but I grabbed his shoulder stopping him in his tracks.

"Shouldn't we follow?" he asked and I looked down at him a plan already forming in my head.

"Yes, but I have a plan of my own… how do you like the plan called Invincible Nico?" I asked and he pointed at himself.

"I'm invincible?" he asked and I shrugged.

"They will think you are, and that's all that matters" I said.

With a thought three clones appeared and we all smiled at Nico.

"Follow the group Nico, we will let you know when the plan is ready" I said before we all turned invisible.

He looked around for us, completely confused and I gave him a slight shove in direction of the crowd.

"Cool" he whispered before running after them, us in tow.

We came upon a large cluster of rocks that looked oddly like a fist from the right angle, either that or i'm imagining things again. The flag was placed atop it and the group seemed to be setting guards and other positions, Thalia spotted Nico and sent him over to Percy but then looked around.

"Nico where's Alfred?" she asked he went to answer but I placed a hand over his mouth while another me forced his shoulders up and down.

It was an awkward shrugging motion and the cut off sound he made could be mistaken for a hum, and it seemed to abate any other questions, Thalia cursed under her breath and I held back a laugh as one of my clones blew on the back of her neck lightly causing her to turn around wildly.

It was rather odd seeing Thalia from four different angles so I pulled my conscience back into one body, a neat trick I learned, but let me tell you that having your perspective switched from one to four then back to one can give you a killer headache, not to mention controlling four bodies is a bitch in and of itself.

We made our way to Percy who instantly tried to put Nico on guard duty, more than likely to keep him from harms way, his intentions were noble but I had Operation Invincible Nico to think about.

"Tell him no" I whispered in Nico's ear and he relayed the answer.

Percy seemed shocked for a second before shaking his head "Nico, I'm co-captain and I say guard the flag" he said but Nico shook his head.

I struggled real hard to keep quiet as Percy tried to keep calm in the face of Nico's blatant defiance.

"Tell him Alfred has a plan, and that you only follow my orders" I whispered.

"I only follow Al's orders, and he told me to stick to the plan" he said proudly, I find it odd that he just follows my orders without question.

"Oh? And what's his plan?" he asked.

"Can't tell you, but it's going to be awesome" he answered.

"Percy! Is there a problem?" Thalia called coming over, Percy looked like he was about to say something but he simply pointed at Nico.

"Apparently, Alfred has a plan that Nico is a part of, and he won't tell us what it is" he said tersely.

Thalia looked at him, then at Nico, before shrugged and shaking her head.

"Based off what I've seen so far it's probably going to work" she sighed.

"What? How do you know?" Percy asked getting irritated with her as well.

"If you saw him take out all of Ares cabin by himself like I did, you wouldn't think too much about it either, now come on let's get back to work" she said with a sigh.

Percy seemed shocked at my accomplishment but grumpily followed her anyway, I felt bad about leaving Thalia out of the loop as I listened in on their plan, it was solid for the most part, though the lack of guards may prove to be a slight problem. I focused hard and with some strain another clone popped into existence next to Thalia who jumped.

"Hello dear" he said simply and she rose an eyebrow.

"Nice of you to show up, and dear? What makes you think you can call me that?" she asked hotly.

"Well I can think of another term of endearment like Sparky or Honey if you prefer" he returned and she grabbed his arm a spark shot from her fingertips into his arm, he jumped and slapped her hand away with a chuckle.

"How's that for Sparky?" she asked with a grin.

"Duly noted, Sparky" he returned and she made to grab him again but he danced from her range, much to her amusement and with that, the horn sounded signalling the game to begin.

The groups split off, and Percy climbed the large rock face in order to get a better view of the forest, it was time to enact the plan, Operation Invincible Nico was a go. My three clones and I formed a protective barrier around Nico, and with a tap on the shoulder we were off towards the creek.

"How fast can you run Nico?" I asked and he shrugged.

"I don't know, faster than all the other kids in the academy" he said and I nodded.

"Show me" and he took off, I mean far faster than I assumed, but then again you know what they say about assuming.

It took me by surprise for a second but we managed to keep the formation up, "run straight for their flag Nico, no hesitation we got you" I said and he nodded.

We rushed through the forest, surprisingly not making contact with anyone on our way, we were coming upon the creek that divided the territories and commotion could be heard from both sides but there was only one guard on the flag that stood dead ahead.

"Nico, fire!" I roared and he didn't hesitate, he missed once and it alerted the guard who turned out to be Bianca, she yelled for help but Nico cut that short when the second arrow hit her in the thigh and she collapsed in the snow almost instantly, whether or not he felt remorse, or even recognized her was beyond me.

That's some potent stuff though, father really knows how to make poison which actually doesn't surprise me, our cover was blown however as an arrow made its way towards us, it was cut from the sky as my western clone brought his knife and chain back to him, more arrows followed but they too were stopped mid-flight.

My conscience was speeding from clone to clone as I watched all sides at once, I could feel the headache coming on but I pushed the annoyance away focusing on the task of keeping Nico guarded, we soon became a literal hurricane of invisible knives and chains as Nico made it to the flag, he snatched the silver flag from the tree and breathing hard took off back towards the creek.

My concentration never wavered, silver arrow pieces littered the ground at Nico's pounding feet as we got closer and closer to the finish line, one hunter came at Nico with a knife and before I could intervene Nico shot her point blank in the chest. He faltered for a second, that's when I noticed commotion from across the creek, it was Zoe making a mad dash for the creek followed by the two guards that were left at the flag, but where was my clone?

A flash of scenery passed through my mind and I chuckled at my own brazen showmanship, he gave her a head start.

"Nico! Let's go, she's fine!" I yelled back swatting another arrow from the air.

He snapped out of it and noticed Zoe running, he started to take off again but one of my clones clapped a hand to his shoulder.

"Just walk" he whispered swinging and taking two arrows out at once, I chuckled, we are such show-offs.

"Run!" Thalia yelled at Nico coughing from a yellow gas that covered her group.

However, Nico didn't falter and just kept walking towards the creek, I could see the confusion on Zoe's eyes as she looked at him, she almost made it to the creek, when suddenly a green chain shot from the tree line and wrapped around her waist, her eyes widened as she came to a forced stop mere feet from the creek. My clone dragged her back with a grin as she struggled hard tearing at the ground in her attempts, roaring in defiance, but it was all for naught, for he was much stronger, the win was ours as we crossed the creek at a sedated pace, the arrows had stopped… we had won.

Both sides converged on the creek quickly, no one spoke but all had eyes on Nico who held the flag in his hand tightly, Chiron seemed to be completely surprised yet elated "Camp Half-Blood win!" he yelled happily as the campers erupted into cheers. My clones disappeared and I dropped my invisibility before throwing Nico on my shoulder.

"The Invincible Nico!" I yelled out happily as he laughed from atop my shoulder, I spun him around as he waved the flag to the cheers of Invincible Nico. Thalia was smiling widely at our merrymaking and I sent a wink her way, Zoe dropped our flag and returned to her Hunters who glared at me, I dropped Nico to the ground as he was mobbed by the campers who congratulated him.

There, he shouldn't be short on friends at least.

"You've been here less than two days and you've already rocked the house" Thalia said coming up to me.

"well I am quite amazing" I gloated with a shrug, she rolled her eyes.

"Lean down for a sec" she said looking away from me, I complied not quite sure what she was about to do, then I felt warmth on my cheek and a slight sparking sensation that was very pleasant despite the rotten egg smell.

She stepped back and looked everywhere but me as small sparks shot off her armor, I looked at her, shocked for lack of a better word before smiling broadly.

"Next cabin, just say the word I'll challenge them right now" I said and she chuckled rolling her eyes, a beautiful blush across her face, but then all the noise stopped.

I found it curious but I was too engrossed in Thalia's reactions.

Then a green mist appeared out of the corner of my eye, and now my attention was caught, turning to see what the situation was, I found myself rather intrigued at the sight of a mummified creature making its way over to the group. Chiron mumbled something but I was much too busy trying to figure out what the hell that thing was, Nico returned to my side staring wide eyed at the thing.

No one moved as it made its way into the center of the group, then a voice hissed inside my head and I winced at the volume.

" _I am the Spirit of Delphi"_ it hissed, _"Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python"._ It finished before looking at Percy.

Then it abruptly turned to Zoe Nightshade of all people.

" _Approach, Seeker, and ask."_ It hissed and Zoe stepped up instantly.

"what must I do to help my goddess?" she asked gulping loudly as the thing regarded her coldly.

Its mouth opened and the green mist poured from it, taking form, a mountain, a girl at its peak, Artemis chained and in pain, hands raised to defend herself, the creature spoke once again.

 _Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,_

 _ **One may be lost**_ _in the land without rain,_

 _The bane of Olympus shows the trail,_

 _Campers and Hunters combined prevail,_

 _The Titan's curse must one withstand,_

 _ **One should perish**_ _by a parent's hand,_

 _ **The Prince of Tricks will face the Titans Wrath,**_

 _And_ _ **joy or sorrow**_ _will be seen in the aftermath._

One may be lost, not good.

One should perish, also not good.

The Prince of Tricks will face the Titans Wrath, definitely not good.

Joy or sorrow, Fuck. Me. Sideways.

The mist swirled and reentered the creatures mouth, it then sat on a rock by the creek staring out as if it could watch the water run down the forest for an eternity. No one spoke, no one moved, but I really had to let something out.

"The fucks a Titans Wrath, and why in the hell do I have to face it?" I asked loudly to the stunned group.

 **Chapter End**

 **Sorry for the really late update, the army is kicking my ass, but I should have the next chapter up by Sunday and if not Monday.**

 **As always, Read, Review, Flame, it's all love and it's all welcome**

 **Vonstein signing out.**


	8. Eight, Prophecies, and Electric Kisses

**Disclaimer. Sadly, I own nothing but my character, all rights go to Rick Riordan, but I will admit to extreme fun messing with his work.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 8**

 **Prophecies, and Electric Kisses**

Father, gotta find father, where the hell is he when I need him!? Fuck this is not good whatsoever, I heard Thalia scream after me as I took off down the creek Nico in tow, I didn't stop this was madness, I came to this camp for some excitement yes but not excitement deemed fit by fate, oh no that was too much.

"Father!" I yelled looking around wildly as I blasted through the forest.

He had to have heard that, there is no way he was not aware of this extreme predicament, we needed a plan, otherwise I was in some serious shit, I don't know how long we ran but we came to a halt in the middle of the cabins, still no sign of father.

"Now is not the time for a disappearing act, we need a plan" I growled scanning the area, Nico breathing heavily behind me.

"We are in some serious shit son" I heard my father's voice coming from my right side.

I whirled around to look at him and his appearance honestly shocked me, he was leaning against the side of one of the cabins, his hair was disheveled, there was a tired look in his eyes, and he was much paler than normal. A golden staff that I had never seen before was leaning against the wall next to him and he was rubbing his temples staving off an oncoming headache.

I've never seen him so out of sorts, he was always pulled together, regal in everything he did, you could never catch him off guard and above all else he always knew what to do. Seeing him like this, scared the living hell out of me.

"Yeah, I put that together already dad" I groaned walking over to him.

He shook his head, "I think it's time for me to tell you why I have not been accosted or collected by my family" he said tiredly.

I rose an eyebrow, this was coming out of nowhere "I thought they didn't care where you were?" I asked and he shook his head.

"I lied, God of Tricks remember? you see they think they know where I am, I have a clone up there at all times... or this might be a clone I can't really remember anymore" he said sliding down the wall to the snow-covered ground.

I sat next to him and Nico collapsed next to me, "the thing that has helped me, stay hidden so to speak no matter how much power I have used is the fact that I myself am stuck in a prophecy" he sighed.

I looked at him shocked for the most part, "you're a part of a prophecy" I reiterated and he nodded.

"And no before you ask, I will not relay the damned thing to you" he groaned knocking his head against the wall behind him.

I've never seen him so… human before, he snickered "that's something your mother taught me, how to be more human, sometimes I miss her more than anything else" he said softly.

He shook his head "back to the point, so I am protected by a prophecy, everything I do right now is to make sure that the prophecy does not end horribly on my side of things" he paused.

"So, how does that effect my prophecy?" I asked, because so far this is not helping my situation.

"Prophecies are very fickle things son, since I am trapped in one and decided to not fight it directly, it is helping me... in a way, shrouding me from others, dulling their senses to the things I do, but that can change quickly" he said.

The prophecy is keeping him hidden, or at least helping, so that mean… "you can't help" I whispered, he nodded slowly.

"I cannot help you with this prophecy, because while I do have the power to completely break the damned thing, and by Odin's beard I would rather you not face a Titans Wrath, whatever that may entail, if I do, the shrouds and shields I have placed over myself will be stripped, Asgard will know of my trick and they will come down to collect me" he said through gritted teeth.

That has always bothered me, why is it so bad that they come down? What's the worst that could happen?

"Execution, or some other horrible punishment more than likely, you see, we are not allowed on Midgard, or any other realm without express permission, let alone fathering a son, my "father" Odin would not be happy in the slightest" he said with a sigh.

I was in this alone, father can't interfere, well shit, now I know what you're thinking, yes, I may talk the talk, and you've seen me walk the walk but this was bigger than any monster I've faced. This was fate taking a personal interest in me, and from my father's stories it never goes well, most stories and legends actually end on a horrible note, the hero dying... joy or sorrow.

We were sitting in the Big House, waiting on Thalia to bring back Percy and Grover, representatives of every cabin sat around a ping-pong table of all things, Dionysus conjured some snacks but I was not hungry at the moment, there was wine at first before that was turned into diet coke, damn Chiron and his ethics…I could use a drink.

"You're not the only one son" father said from my right handing me a goblet of wine, I nodded to him.

"You always know how to make me feel better" I sighed taking a drink much to everyone's distaste and Dionysus's envy.

"Can I have some?" Nico asked and I handed it over to him.

"Careful, it's smoother than most but it's still alcohol" I said.

He took a drink and coughed slightly but with a few taps to the back he was fine to take another sip, "it's good" he said with a smile handing the goblet back to me.

"Well gods drink it, so it better be" I chuckled setting it on the table in front of me.

Zoe grimaced at us, and Bianca spoke up immediately "Nico! You're too young to drink!" she admonished, father chuckled cutting off anything Nico or I was about to say.

"You lost the right to chide him for anything miss Di Angelo, focus on your new family instead of mine huh?" he said with a grin, she didn't say anything to that looking away ashamed.

I nodded to father and he returned the gesture as pounding feet could be heard coming from the attic signaling Thalia, Percy, and Grover's return. Surprisingly enough Annabeth was with them, which is odd because I personally hadn't seen her since my fight with Ares cabin, I wonder what she was doing.

We were all here, but nobody was speaking, just staring at each other as if willing another to go first. It was getting annoying, I would've said something but since this is my first time even being in this situation I honestly would like to see how they went about it normally, I mean they had a prophecy spouting mummy in the attic so i'm sure this wasn't the first time.

"This is pointless" Zoe started, and wow meeting was already getting interesting.

"Oh here we go" I sighed as she glared at me.

"There is no time for talk, our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately" she stated.

I chuckled and if looks could kill, I would be a smoldering pile of ash right about now, lucky me, "what is so funny boy?" she growled, like literally growled at me, it was kind of unnerving.

"Well for one, the fact that you want to call me boy is hilarious, you're like chest height to me. Two you didn't listen to the prophecy very, well did you? Hunters and Campers genius, not to mention only five so you and your band of merry women aren't going to do shit alone" I laughed.

Angry, she was so angry, I'm pretty sure she didn't get the reference but the campers were trying very hard not to laugh right now, and while I know I was coming off kind of harsh I was under some stress so sue me.

"The Hunters do not need thy help" she hissed.

"Your" Thalia grumbled, "nobody has said thy in, like three hundred years Zoe, get with the times" she stated.

Zoe hesitated, oh dear god she was forming the words in her head. " _Yerr_ , we don't need _yerr_ help" she said roughly, I couldn't help it I burst out laughing, by the gods I was mean, but it was too much.

"Please, don't do that, just stick with your Shakespeare it's better that way" I said calming down.

Chiron cleared his throat gaining our attention, I guess he was getting tired of the lack of progress being made.

"I fear the prophecy says you do need our help, Campers and Hunters must cooperate" he said.

Dionysus spoke up then "or do they?" he said idly, swirling his coke under nose like a fine wine, "One may be lost. One should perish. That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail because you try to cooperate?" he asked.

I got contemplative, "that could happen" I said with a shrug.

"Who's side are you guys on?" Chiron asked looking at the both of us.

"Sorry, my dear centaur, just trying to be helpful" he said with raised eyebrows.

I shrugged, "I personally would like to be on the side that keeps me from dying to the Titans Wrath, whatever the hell that is" I sighed.

"How are you so sure it means you?" Zoe sniped and father chuckled.

"Are you questioning whether or not I am the God of Tricks?" he asked.

Zoe got real quiet, "didn't think so, and just so you know Prince of Tricks is one of the monikers we use for him" he said.

"Not that I like the idea of my son facing this Titans Wrath, so let's figure out what's going to happen so that we can come up with a plan that does not include him dying" he said.

Then he got real serious, we could feel the temperature rise in the cabin, and he leaned forward looking at Zoe specifically.

"Because if my son dies, due to your reckless eagerness to save your goddess, I will personally kill her in front of you, and the rest of the Greek pantheon while i'm at it, I will come at all of you with the force of a thousand Ragnarok's, am I clear?" he asked.

She seemed to be suffocating, and was rather pale, I would've said something but I've never seen father this angry, she tried to swallow but couldn't, her mouth opened but no sound left it, so she settled for nodding eagerly. The tension broke and I let out a deep breath.

"Damn father, that was unnerving" I chuckled shakily, to which he laughed.

"Why thank you, but I am quite serious" he said as thunder sounded from outside.

He got excited at the sound, "oh I hope that's another god coming down to threaten me, I haven't had that happen in years" he said popping from existence, everyone was quiet as I turned to Thalia.

"Thalia, dear, I hope your father does not come down" I said and she looked at me.

"Because if he does, he might not make it back up there with his beard intact" I finished leaning back in my chair.

It was now down to who was going on this little quest of ours, two campers and three hunters was decided upon via Percy.

"I shall go, of course, and I will take Phoebe, she is our best tracker." She said then looked around before her eyes landed on Bianca, "and I wish for Bianca to go" she stated much to Bianca's shock.

I rose an eyebrow "you realize that the prophecy states people may die, and you want to take the newest hunter with you?" I asked looking at her like she was completely stupid.

She glared hard, "she will do fine, there is no better way to prove thyself" she said looking back at Bianca.

"Overconfidence will get you and others killed, remember that" I said simply.

"Oh? That advice seems to be more suited for thee" she sniped back and I chuckled.

"I don't have overconfidence, I have the ability to back up everything I say I can do, or do I need to remind you about the embarrassing defeats you experienced at my hand?" I asked.

She was silent, itching for a fight but held back, my father's words probably still ringing in her ears, though I hoped she would try something as I was still rather antsy about this prophecy and getting some frustration out would be lovely.

"Calm down, there is no time for this" Chiron scolded.

Zoe sat back down still glaring at me from across the ping pong table, twiddling with the paddle as if imagining hitting me with it.

"Now, which campers are going to go?" he asked looking at us.

I sighed "really? It's already a given that I have to go, and if I want anyone here watching my back it will be Thalia" I stated leaning back and waiting for any objections.

Grover had one, "I need to go! I must help Artemis, i'm a great tracker, I've even learned the Tracker song" he said looking at me.

I stared at him, "how are you in a fight?" I asked rather bluntly but this was a blunt kind of situation.

He blushed "thought so, Grover, not to say you would be worthless, because having you would probably make finding her much easier, but what about after? If I'm facing down this Titans Wrath or whatever, I would rather take all the help I can get" I said shaking my head.

"What about me?" Percy said from across the room.

Really? Fine i'll bite "what about you?" I sighed.

"I'm just as good in a fight as Thalia" he stated.

Thalia scoffed at the idea, "I don't think so seaweed brain" she said shaking her head.

"Oh, yeah pinecone face?" he started.

Now while I would enjoy seeing Thalia possibly electrocute someone other than me, I was frankly rather tired out at this point. So I slammed my hand down on the table shaking everything and shutting them up.

"Shut up. Shut up and listen" I said lowly, they all stared at me in shock, I don't think I've shown legitimate anger since I've met them, but well there's a first time for everything I guess.

"I. Might. Die. Now, while I don't expect anyone here but Nico, Thalia, and father to care about that fact, I still refuse to die for a goddess that I don't. Even. Like!" I said yelled, I stopped and collected myself, yelling at them would probably just get more arguing started.

"So, here's the deal, I want Thalia to watch my back, one because I've seen her fight, two because I know her better than all of you other than maybe Nico, three because I like the girl and I dare one of you to say that isn't a legitimate reason because I will cut you, so she. Is. Going. End of discussion" I growled glaring at all of them.

No one spoke for a long while, I felt Nico reach over to touch my arm, "Al, you're burning the table" he said.

"What?" I asked looking down at my hand to see that I was indeed leaving a deep black mark in the shape of my hand on the table, that was definitely new.

"Well shit, never done that before" I said pulling my hand back.

The small of burnt paint and wood filled the room and I sighed, "now that the group is decided, what's next?" I asked tiredly, Thalia was looking at me but I was too exhausted to really figure out why.

Dinner was somber that night, father wasn't there but I still grabbed everyone from their tables because they still don't seem to understand the new order of things, Percy was missing, so was Annabeth so it was just me, Thalia, and Nico who was silent as the grave, which I found ironic due to his parenthood.

"Nico what's wrong?" Thalia asked finally as he pushed his potatoes around the plate once again.

"Nothing" he mumbled staring down at the table, I wrapped an arm around his shoulder lightly.

"C'mon Nico, you're normally talking our ears off, tell your future cousin what's wrong" I said, Thalia punched me in the arm from across the table, which got a light laugh out of Nico.

"Al, you're going to be okay right?" he asked softly not looking at me.

I got quiet, so that's what was wrong, he just "lost" his sister to The Hunters and now he may lose me to some crazy Titans Wrath thing, Thalia tapped me on the arm again and I looked at her, she made a motion at Nico, and I sighed.

"Nico, do you believe I'll be okay?" I asked and he shrugged.

"Wow, thanks for the confidence" I said butting my head against his.

"Nico, Al will be fine, he may gain some brain damage along the way if he keeps being stupid, but I won't let him get hurt" she said, I placed a hand over my heart.

"See Nico? She loves me already" I said leaning into him and away from her.

"Though if he keeps that up someone may need to save him from me" she growled flicking a carrot at me which I promptly caught in my mouth.

Nico laughed louder this time, "oh darling, who said I would want to be saved from you" I said with a wink, she rolled her eyes and grinned.

"But Uncle Loki was scared" he said and that stopped me, he was right, this was serious, he heard the entire conversation, come on Al time to lie.

"Father was just, being overprotective, he won't be able to come so he worries" I said with a shrug, though I looked at Thalia with a grave expression, I could see worry in her eyes as well.

"I don't want you to get hurt" he said, I chuckled.

"Nothing can hurt me little man, I'm "the strongest Demi-god I've ever seen" according to Thalia" I said with a grin.

"I never said that!" she defended.

"Yeah you did, when Nico refused to follow Percy's orders at capture the flag" I said, her eyes widened.

"You were there! I knew someone blew on my neck!" she accused aiming to hit me but I held up my hands.

"Now Thalia, think about this, I could've touched you ass but I didn't, that took self-restraint" I said, then realized what I said.

"Uh-oh" Nico muttered trying to edge away from me.

Her eyes were wide, her blush was strong, and sparks shot from her fingers, yep time to beat a hasty retreat.

I stood up quickly, "welp I'm done" I said tossing Nico over my shoulder and shooting from the dining hall, an irate lightning powered demi-goddess close on my heels.

"Run Al! She's gaining on us!" Nico laughed from my shoulder as I hopped a low standing fence.

"Go on without me Nico!" I yelled tossing him in a large snow pile ahead of us.

We made eye contact and I said the only thing that I could, "run you fool" I said as the sound of pounding feet came closer.

I turned as the little body slammed into me and we fell to the snow-covered ground.

"I'm going to kill you" she growled reaching for my throat as I laughed, I don't believe she understood the position we were currently in as she struggled on top of me, but I wasn't complaining, her effort induced grunts soon devolved into bursts of giggles until finally I had a bundle of laughs on top of me.

She leaned back and laughed looking down at me, her breath was seen on the air, her eyes were alive with mirth, and her smile was wide, in this situation I had some control over my actions, but what she said next broke that little bit of control I had.

"I won't let you die" she whispered looking down upon me, so what I did next would probably end up with me in pain but it would be completely worth it.

Sitting up, I looked down at her smiling face before pressing my lips softly to hers, she stilled and I was about to pull away, but then she hesitantly returned the light kiss, I wrapped my arms around her waist and she grabbed at the front of my coat. It was a chaste kiss, innocent compared to some of the other kisses I've experienced in my teenage life but it was quite wonderful nonetheless.

I felt a tingling sensation coming from her soft lips and it felt odd in a good sort of way, almost like a soft vibration that traveled through your whole body, but alas, after a moment I pulled back and looked at her, her eyes were lidded as she stared up at me. Then the situation seemed to catch up to her and her eyes shot fully open, she was about to speak but I cut in.

"I think I can take on this Titans Wrath thing now" I said softly, she closed her mouth.

At a complete loss of what to do in this situation she hit me in the chest softly then looked away, but didn't protest to my holding her, so we sat in that position for a few more moments before I cleared my throat.

"The longer you sit there, the more I contemplate not letting you get up" I said with a grin as she looked at me.

She shot off me like her life depended on it and looked away, I could make out electricity sparking through her hair as she licked her lips, I stood up with a groan and rubbing my ass.

"I think you broke my tail bone" I said idly, and she couldn't hide the snicker that escaped.

Nico soon came up huffing and puffing before bending over to catch his breath.

"Can I stop running now?" he asked looking up at me.

Thalia and I stared at him for a moment before falling back into laughter as he stood there completely confused.

"What? What I miss?" he asked as we kept laughing, the sound echoing throughout the snow covered camp.

 **Chapter End**

 **Well there it is, we'll be beginning the adventure in the next chapter, and don't worry the romance will be slow as I'm pretty sure this will be Thalia's first time, I know she had a crush on Luke but I may need to check on whether or not that actually evolved into anything.**

 **Anyway, Read, Review, Flame I'll take them all.**

 **Vonstein signing out.**


	9. Nine,Problems Solved, and Journeys Begin

**Disclaimer. Sadly, I own nothing but my character, all rights go to Rick Riordan.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 9**

 **Problems Solved, and Journey's Begin**

How people watch T.V. all the time is truly a mystery to me, it was hypnotic, a menace to society as a whole, yet I somehow find myself enjoying it, brings me back to the good old days as a baby when my life consisted of ooh pretty colors.

"I was not aware that you were such a movie fan father" I said leaning back into the black leather couch.

Nico was absorbed in the movie "Rush Hour" as was father due to the lack of any intelligent response. I chuckled to myself and looked out the window of the cabin, it was night but Nico and I couldn't grasp sleep, it's been a while since I've felt anxious about anything but we leave at first light.

We begin an adventure that may lead to my death at first light, there was something sobering about that, not that I'll actually let myself die oh no, I will lie, cheat, and murder to stay alive, otherwise I'm sure the Greek pantheon will face a fate that I don't actually wish on anyone well, maybe The Hunters but I can't blame them for the actions of their Goddess.

It was during my contemplation that I noticed something out and about, two figures could be seen making their way across the cabins, my night vision isn't the greatest but I was quite sure they were feminine, interesting.

"Father, Nico I'm going out for a bit" I said only to receive grunts in response.

Wow, a god captivated by television, I wonder what else is in store for me, maybe pigs will fly in the morning singing tales of powerful hog warriors who will rise against the bacon loving hordes known as mankind. But if that is what shall happen, the pigs will die, because that means more bacon, and I will not pass up the chance of more bacon.

Stepping out into the crisp night air I scanned around making sure to shut the door quietly to kill the light that spilled out of its depths. There, definitely feminine, and definitely do not wish to be seen, sadly for them I'm a curious soul that just can't pass up the chance to spy on people. Not to mention it may be about something I need to know, and in that case, I definitely cannot pass up the chance to spy on people.

I followed slowly, barely able to keep them within my line of sight, because while I may be invisible sound is still a factor, so the further I am from them the less of a chance they have to locate me based on my sound. When I finally got to their location I noticed where we were, the dining hall… at this hour? Midnight snack? No too simple not interesting enough, time to get closer.

I came upon a column and leaned into it. I was still too far, only able to hear snippets of the conversation though I did recognize the voices, Zoe and Bianca very interesting, I moved around the column slowly before spotting an odd sight, it was Zoe and Bianca, Zoe had Bianca held down on the table tucked firmly between her legs, lips locked, tongues tied, without any care in the world... That would have been shocking, right? No, while they were quietly whispering about something, the interesting sight was Percy.

He was standing behind one of the columns near them listening intently, guess I wasn't the only one curious. Walking up calmly behind him I finally began piecing the conversation together.

"It cannot be cured," Zoe was saying. "Not quickly, at any rate". Uh oh, that can't be good.

"But, how did it happen?" Bianca asked, which immediately set Zoe into a growling fest.

Wow that girl can be scary, apparently, the Stoll brothers gave one of the hunters a shirt coated in Centaur blood, which is acid basically, man that's sick Hunter or not that is just wrong. Bianca shared my sentiments exactly, I still didn't know who they were talking about though.

"She will live, but she will be bedridden for weeks with horrible hives. There is no way she can go, it's up to me and thee" she finished with a sigh.

No way she can? No, fuck they took out the damn tracker? Memo, find and destroy the Stoll brothers, but there has to be someone else who can take her place.

"But the prophecy" Bianca started, "if Phoebe can't go, we only have four, we need someone else" she said but Zoe cut her off.

There was no time, she was right, no one right now would like to be awoken and forced to go on this quest, at least… not a demi god. I left Percy immediately, I had a Satyr to find, he stayed in Hermes cabin from what I can remember Nico telling me, dashing through the cabin area after making sure I was far enough to not be heard I quickly found the brown building.

I burst through loudly, bunks aligned the walls, empty for the most part, some poked their heads up from under the covers, and looky looky, the Stoll brothers they began to protest but I held up a hand while turning on the light.

"You two, I will deal with in a second, please do get a few more minutes of sleep before I kill you" I growled before turning and spotting the one I needed.

He was staring at me blearily from across the cabin, I quickly made my way over and clapped him on the shoulder.

"How quickly can you be ready to go on the quest in the morning?" I asked him seriously.

"Wha-what?" he asked confused so I shook him a few times.

"Grover, listen carefully, dumb and dumber over there took out The Hunters tracker, and they are too stupid to find another, now how quickly can you be ready to help us find Artemis?" I asked slowly.

This time he registered, a determined glint entered his eye, "very quickly" he said and I nodded with a smirk.

"Good, get ready then get some more sleep, be up at first light" I told him and he nodded before I turned back to the dumbasses.

They actually took my advice and fell back to sleep, lovely.

"Father" I called out and with a pop he was next to me looking dazed.

probably the after effects of staring at a T.V. for wow three hours now. He grunted, then stared, then his eyes came to life faster than I've ever seen before.

"This will be fun" he said with a growing grin staring at the two boys fast asleep.

"What are you thinking? Because I was thinking about tying them up to a tree by their ankles for the rest of the night" I said idly.

I could feel Grover shiver from behind us, "no, no don't worry about it son, I will personally handle this, they will be apologizing profusely by the morning, now you need to sleep, big day tomorrow" he said and I nodded, he had a point.

With a wave I exited the cabin, feeling tired now that all the adrenaline had left my system, I threw on my invisibility before heading back to my cabin, mansion, thing. It was a good thing too because I spotted Zoe and Bianca making their way back as well. Percy was nowhere to be seen however.

Stepping back into the warm confines of the cabin I instantly spotted Nico passed out on the couch, the credits for Rush Hour were rolling and I chuckled at the sight. Turning the T.V. off I plucked Nico from the couch and headed down to his room, it didn't take long for me to shirk his jacket and shoes before tucking him into the bed.

He didn't even stir, today must have been very taxing on him, getting shot at by The Hunters, hearing a prophecy, running like a madman and all the other things we did today. It was when I went to leave that he actually woke up slightly, grabbing my wrist, I turned to look at his half-asleep expression.

He looked directly into my eyes and frowned, "don't die Al" he mumbled, I stared at him before smiling.

"I'll be back bud" I said patting his hand, he smiled lightly before promptly passing back out.

Making my way back up the stairs then to my room, I tossed my coat onto the chair and kicked my loafers off, father told me not to worry about packing so I didn't, placing my knives on the nightstand I laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling. The quest hadn't even started and things were already going wrong, this did not sit well with me at all, why did I even come here? Oh, right Thalia, well at least things are going well on that front otherwise I would have been one grumpy demi-god.

Rolling over to stare at the wall, I could only ponder the prophecy, over and over it ran through my head, but there was another thing on my mind a purely rebellious idea really… that I would allow no one to die on this quest, purely out of spite.

Who starts an extremely important mission at the crack of dawn? Don't they want their heroes to be well rested before going on a quest that may kill them? Doesn't make a lick of sense. I was making my may over to the top of the hill, apparently, there would be someone there to transport us to the city, although I'm sure we were on our own from there.

Didn't mind that, as whatever help they could give would pale in comparison to the help that father would have been able to give, this was going to be weird not having him around, and what can I say? I'm a daddy's boy. I grabbed Grover who was rearing to go when I got there, I told him to stay out of sight until I called him because I could go for some surprises this morning, well surprises for them not me, it would be enjoyable to see the look on Zoe's face when I brought him out.

I wonder what father did with the Stoll boys? Questions for later.

"You're late" Zoe growled out as I crested the hill to see a van parked and waiting, Thalia, Bianca, and Zoe stood there.

Bianca looked rather tired but the other two seemed fine.

"Sorry I was combing my hair, it takes a lot to look this good you know?" I said lightly as she glared, Thalia rolled her eyes and I made a show of looking around.

"It would seem that I'm not the only one that's late, there's only four people here" I said looking at Zoe.

She shifted slightly, "Phoebe was the recipient of a cruel prank, people from the Hermes cabin" she said lowly.

"Oh that's not okay, we can't go with just four people, I don't know about you but I'm not taking any chances with prophecies" I said with a shrug.

Zoe sighed, "none of my Hunters would be ready in time to leave, so we must make due" she said but I shook my head.

"See and this is why we prepare for everything, Grover!" I called out and he crested the hill at a brisk pace.

"How?" Zoe started but I held a hand up.

"The next time, you want to withhold information, crucial information like maybe the groups tracker being put out of commission, how about you make a bigger deal out of it instead of trying to go on a quest half-cocked?" I growled staring her down.

"As if I could foresee such an event" she snapped back but I chuckled.

"How could you not? It's not the like The Hunters are loved around here, but no you are not the one at fault I will admit, but I don't take chances" I said finally.

We had a good old fashioned stare down, Grover shifted around very uncomfortable with the situation, Thalia looked like she wanted to see what I would do, Bianca was in the same boat as Grover when father popped up next to me startling them.

"Hello father, how are the Stoll boys doing?" I asked glancing at him, he chuckled.

"They should be here any second" he said before looking at Zoe who had the sense to look cautious.

"What did I say to you about your recklessness regarding this quest?" he asked coldly, she paled.

"Don't worry I'll let this one slide since it was not your fault, however, you will fix the problem if anything like this happens again, you already know what will happen if you mess this up girl" he said lowly. Damn she was not doing so hot with people right now, maybe I could try and be a bit nicer to her, dammit being a good guy is difficult.

His grin returned as two others crested the hill, the Stoll brothers looked far from well rested, actually they looked positively horrible, and they kept shooting fearful glances at father when they came to the group. Dirty clothes, exhaustion, palpable fear, yep he put them on a snake hunt, those aren't fun at all, I thought with a chuckle that had them flinch.

Oops, I forget how much our laughs sound similar.

They came up to the group and knelt in front of Zoe, looking at all of us.

"We're sorry for sabotaging the quest, we beg your forgiveness but expect no mercy" they said in unison, ah father and his rehearsals.

Zoe took in their forms with a cold calculation before nodding.

"Excellent job boys, now you may return to your cabin and rest, you look like you need it" father said jovially, they bowed before rushing down the hill like the devil was hot on their heels, and who knows? Maybe he was.

Father appraised the van that the group was climbing into with a look of disdain.

"Well that just won't do at all" he muttered, reaching into his coat and pulled out a coin, oh boy, I recognize that coin.

He popped next to the driver side door and the driver rolled down the window, I couldn't hear what was said but father snapped his fingers soon after then walked around to the front of the van. I joined him as he placed the coin on the hood, it sank into the metal like liquid and the van shimmered, ripples across the van slowly morphing it, the white color was washed with green and the van became sleeker.

The change was so familiar, the Protean Coin father calls it, it has the ability to morph objects into whatever the holder desires, he told me how he attained it once, though I think my memory is blocking that particular story, for it was far from the most moral thing my father has ever done.

Soon I was staring at a 1965 four door mustang, dark green, with a black decal of the helmet he never wears on the hood, the name Loki Odinson was decaled across the sides and it roared to life with the sweet sound of 700 horse power, I love my dad.

"I love you too son" he chuckled before leaning into the driver side window that was unoccupied at the moment, hmm so that's why he snapped his fingers, I wonder where the driver went? More questions for later.

"Put your things in the trunk" he said, they looked like they had tons of room in the back, bigger on the inside, god hood is very convenient on most occasions.

Once everyone's things were in the trunk, including a black suitcase that belonged to no one. I will assume that it belonged to me, we piled in as the car revved up once again.

"I would definitely hold on to something, or someone" I said from the front seat as father threw the car in first.

They looked at me oddly, but when _Dragula_ by Rob Zombie began to play I looked back completely serious, "you really need to hold on to something" I warned.

We took off sending everyone in the back into a screaming fit, this was going to be a long drive I thought with a sigh as father's laughter carried us down the dirt road at dangerously high speeds.

Now this, was awesome, we just made it to the outskirts of Manhattan I believe it was, father had calmed down his driving just a tad so the screaming stopped, well in Grover's case he fainted but I'm sure he was fine. There were cops chasing us a while back, though they aren't anymore, I wonder what happened to them?

Father chuckled from beside me so I guess I had the answer to that particular question, we had just pulled into the bus station that Zoe pointed out when father made a face of disgust.

"They expect you guys, to go on a quest via bus?" he asked stepping out of the car, Thalia shrugged walking over to the trunk but when father didn't open it she looked at him.

"Um Loki, sir, we need our bags" she said obviously confused on how she should address him, this made me laugh as he looked at her oddly.

"Call me dad, Odin knows you'll have to eventually" he said with a grin that had her sputtering.

"No one will grab anything, Alfred" he said and I looked at him.

"I'm allowing you to borrow the Protean Coin, seeing as that's the only thing I can do, but I expect **you** to return it, oh and no giant robots, we don't need you appearing on the news" he said with a grin.

I shook my head, it was a fleeting thought but entirely possible I believe, "thank you father, it will be of great help" I said and he shrugged.

"Can't possibly be of more help than my presence but at least you won't be wanting for transport" he said with a sigh.

"Give them hell son, I'll be starting Nico's training while you're gone" he said with a nod that I returned before popping off once again.

I felt a bit bad for Nico but, well fathers training can only make you stronger, if not more paranoid.

"Well alright, west we go" I said hopping into the driver seat.

"Can you even drive?" Thalia asked leaning into the driver side window.

"Helped you, didn't I?" I said with a grin.

She rolled her eyes, "I call shotgun!" Grover called.

"You wish goat-boy" Thalia replied hopping into the passenger side.

"No fair!" Grover called getting into the back seat followed by Zoe and Bianca who were strangely silent.

"Well, normally I would abide by the rules of shotgun, however she has the advantage of breasts" I said with a grin.

"Disgusting" Zoe growled from the back-seat, Grover was laughing at least.

I jumped as electricity raced through my arm.

"Ouch woman! You are so lucky I wasn't driving already" I said rubbing the offended appendage.

"Well you're lucky we need five people on this quest" she snapped with a victorious grin.

I put the car in first and left the bus station, "well it's not my fault that they are very nice breasts" I said.

She growled but I held up a hand "the driver is protected!" I shouted leaning towards the door.

She scowled and gave me look that said just you wait, but I was still happy over the current victory I held, because it's the little things that count.

"How long have we been driving?"

"Can we listen to something else?"

"Are we there yet?"

"Do you even know where you're going?"

"Guys maybe we should leave him alone."

"Trying to burn the road with your eyes?"

"Does anyone else smell burnt plastic?"

I pulled into a McDonald's and slowly let go of the wheel.

The melted plastic soon righted itself as the magic of the Protean Coin activated.

"If you think I won't crash the car, you are mistaken" I said lowly looking over at the grinning face of Thalia, the sheepish face (hehehe) of Grover, the scowl of Zoe and the apologetic face of Bianca.

Electricity lanced through my arm once again and I jumped.

"Dammit woman!" I yelled as Thalia laughed.

"You weren't driving, where's your protection now?" she mocked.

"In the palm of my hand once I get you over my knee" I growled at her, a spark shot off from her right ear as the insinuation caught up with her.

I left her sputtering choosing to turn to the people in the backseat.

I pointed at Grover, "I refuse to listen to Justin Timberlake or whatever boy toy of the week that makes your heart flutter" I said he made a noise of protest at the assumption but I ignored him in favor of pointing at the scowling hunter.

"I really don't like you, like at all, you are bitching about nothing, the prophecy said west so we are going west" I growled, which she returned with equal fervor.

The now familiar feeling of my arm going numb snapped me from my grilling of the backseat drivers, I turned to Thalia who was currently scowling at me, now I don't know if it was my anger, or the fact that her scowl looked more like a pout which was adorable.

However, I could not resist the urge to kiss her, roughly, in front of everyone, she made a sound of protest but that died quickly, that tingling sensation in my lips returned and I had to force myself away from her or risk showing her what tongue can do in the aspect of kissing.

Zoe's disapproving words, and by disapproving, I mean downright vehement denial of the show I just put on were ignored as I watched Thalia's hooded eyes, I definitely liked the effect I had on her. Now that all the problems were solved in my opinion, we could return to driving, no wait, forgetting something.

"Grover, do your tracking thing or whatever" I said as I put the car back in gear. I waited a moment as he shuffled around.

"It'll take some time" he said and I sighed, I might as well keep driving then, so I got back on the road without annoying questions, concerns, and opinions, lovely.

"Acorns, you used acorns... okay I'll bite where are we going?" I asked leaning against a vending machine, we were currently at a rest stop, by some gift of god, possibly my father we were already heading the right way when he told me D.C.

"Grover are you sure?" Thalia asked when he relayed this.

He nodded "pretty sure, ninety-nine percent" he said turning to her, she rose an eyebrow and waited.

"Okay maybe eighty-five percent sure" he said finally breaking under her scrutiny.

I chuckled, "and you did this with acorns?" Bianca asked in pure disbelief, and Grover looked downright offended as he defended his age-old craft, Bianca pointed out that she and Nico used to live in D.C. though she found it strange that she forgot but I could honestly care less, she was here now so what was the issue.

"I dislike this" Zoe said, dammit again, she is really making it hard to be nice.

"You dislike everything from what I've seen" I groaned.

"We should go straight west. The prophecy said west" she growled at me.

I was going to point out that I said the exact same thing to her not even an hour ago but Thalia beat me too it.

"Like your tracking skills are better?" she snapped at her, Zoe took this as a challenge as she stepped up.

"You challenge my skills, you scullion? You know nothing of being a Hunter!" she yelled.

Whoa okay, "how about you take that back before I challenge your skills, eh cumberground? Yeah, I can get old too" I chuckled, Zoe fumed and reached for her knife, but she stopped suddenly.

I could see an indent across her throat, possibly from the invisible clone behind her.

"Whatever skills you may have, just understand that I'm better" I said lightly as she glared at me, the clone pulled the knife away from her throat and promptly disappeared but not before enlightening me on a certain someone following us.

Let me explain something to you, innate invisibility magic is great because of two things, one, because it makes you invisible obviously, and two, it shows you other things that are invisible, now I don't know if it counts as a different plane of existence or something but that's how it it.

So the little demi-god in the corner of the room wearing a ball cap did not escape my notice, but it's okay, I'll deal with that later.

"Are we clear?" I asked her, her scowl was fierce but she didn't reach again so I took that as a yes.

"What does scullion even mean?" Thalia asked glaring at Zoe.

"It means a person of menial task, usually referring to someone who can only work in a kitchen, which is weird seeing as she's part of the Greek feminist movement, yet she's making sexist remarks" I said with a shrug.

I grabbed Thalia before she could reach for any weapon on her person.

"C'mon I'll take you anytime" she snarled at Zoe who looked just as ready to fight.

"Whoa, you two, come on let's not do this again" Grover said nervously, Bianca agreed, and they were right D.C. was our best shot, I hugged Thalia from behind, honestly just enjoying the contact, while ignoring the random electrical surges going through my arms as she tried to get me off her.

"You should get used to this" I sighed guiding her out the door with the rest of the crew.

"You are so annoying" she huffed giving up as we made it to the car.

An invisible clone stayed behind to follow Percy, I had some plans for him already, I wonder if my clones work at long range? Meh, guess I'll find out, I chuckled before getting into the driver seat once again. Hopefully without anymore arguments, because seriously? We only just started.

 **Chapter End**

 **Sorry for the late update, i'm trying to get it for every Friday but random shit keeps coming up, ah well i'll keep working at it I guess.**

 **Read, Review, Flame, same as usual it's all good to me.**

 **Vonstein signing out.**


	10. Ten, Good Kitty, and Heli-Danger

**Disclaimer. I own nothing but my character, all rights go to Rick Riordan.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 2**

 **Good Kitty, and Heli-Danger**

"I still don't know why I cannot drive" Zoe said from the backseat as we were doing my favorite thing when it came to being on the road, speeding.

"You're driving will probably get us in more trouble than his, I look closer to sixteen than you do" Thalia said with a sigh.

"Perhaps, but I have been driving since automobiles were invented" Zoe snapped back.

"Damn you are old" I said shaking my head.

I knew Percy was still following us, on a black Pegasus of all things but my clone couldn't do anything to him though, apparently the maximum distance I can have between me and my clones is a mile and some change.

"Far older, yet far wiser than thee" she said snidely, by father what was her problem?

"Don't forget far weaker" Thalia snapped, aww she was defending me how lovely.

Zoe regarded her for a few moments, "getting attached again Thalia? One would think thee would be more cautious" she said steel lining her voice.

That got me interested, I glanced at Thalia but she was completely silent and staring out the window which was unusual, looks like whatever Zoe said actually got to her, I couldn't have that.

"Nightshade" I said lowly, she regarded me with a cold gaze, "I've never killed a person before, but you're grating me" I said keeping my eyes on the road.

I was completely serious surprisingly enough, Grover and Bianca fidgeted in the tense atmosphere Zoe however was as silent as Thalia so seeing as nothing else was being said, I turned the music up and focused on driving as we were nearing Washington. The Washington Monument was in sight now and I parked us at a curb at Grover's behest.

"All right Grover, what now?" I asked looking around at the many buildings that surrounded the monument, a strong piece of good old American history that is, freedom at it's finest.

"Over there" he said pointing over to a large building lining…a mall.

"Are you playing with me?" I asked staring at him incredulously.

He shrugged "that's where we need to go" he said lightly.

Thalia just sighed, "well come on then" she muttered trudging towards the building.

I could tell she was in deep thought as she stared at the ground biting at her lip, she pulled her jacket tighter around her body as another chilling wind passed us, would she tell me what was on her mind if I asked? I would hope so, we stopped in front of the large building and I read the sign.

National Air and Space Museum, I grabbed Grover by the shoulder and pulled him into my side as I stared up at the building, "Grover, what does air and space have to do with anything right now?" I asked him.

He stuttered out a response that I didn't listen to as Thalia checked the door, it was open despite the small amount of people actually paying attention to the building. On the door, there was a sign that said "Closed For Private Event" and I sighed.

"Who wants to guess that it's not a coincidence there's a private event going on the exact day we show up" I said lightly as we slipped inside.

All joking aside, I've never been a huge fan of museums I could never explain it but seeing all the completely rigid faces and snippets of time just sitting there has always creeped me out. Everything looks like it could come to life at any second.

"Bad feelings" I muttered looking around at the many rockets lining the walls and hanging above us.

We've been looking around for a while now and have come up with absolutely nothing, we were on the top floor at this point and I was getting rather bored, I thought about jumping on one of the shuttles that hung below us but thought better of it, so I remained bored, until entertainment literally barreled into me at top speed. I took a couple steps back as the body bounced off me, I looked down at the sprawled person and realized it was Percy, everyone else seemed to figure this out quickly as many shouted his name in a mixture of disdain, surprise, happiness, and confusion.

Zoe and Bianca had arrows notched and ready to go, Bianca must be a natural at this Hunter thing.

"Well hello there, was wondering when you would pop up" I said grabbing him by the front of his coat and lifting him until we were eye to eye, he wasn't that heavy surprisingly.

He struggled but I shook him, "calm down and explain" I growled as he finally stopped.

He looked around at everyone else before stating something that had impact on everyone but me, "Luke, he's here" he said.

Thalia made a small noise and touched her silver bracelet, hmm, not a fan already, "where?" she asked and he began relaying everything he saw in the Natural History Museum, our esteemed Dr. Thorn, this Luke fellow, and someone called The General.

"General of what?" I asked, but I was completely ignored which kind of irritated me but I let them continue, I put Percy back on the ground.

"The General is here?" Zoe asked looking very pale, "That is impossible! You lie" she sneered.

"Why would I lie? Look, there's no time. Skeleton warriors—" he said but I cut him off.

"Okay, Skeleton warriors, something familiar, good thing too because I was feeling a bit violent" I said pulling my daggers.

"How many?" Thalia demanded coming to my side.

"Twelve, and that guy the General said he was sending something over a here, a playmate" he said as I gazed behind him looking for anything out of the ordinary.

They began to argue but I was distracted, I sent out a couple of clones to scope out the area and they came up with something rather disturbing, "bad, very, very bad" I said catching their attention.

"What is?" Thalia asked looking where I was.

"We have to get out of here, Skeleton warriors are the worst, the most horrible" Zoe said from behind us, Percy agreed but Zoe cut him off by reminding him that he was not a part of this quest.

While she was right, now was definitely not the time.

"You really shouldn't have come Percy, but you're here now, come on let's get back to the van" Thalia said leaving my side.

I was still watching what my clones were watching, "that is not thy decision!" Zoe snapped.

"No it's mine" I growled finally turning to them, "Nightshade, put a sock in it, Percy I'll deal with you in a moment, Thalia keep looking feisty, I love it, Grover, do Satyr things, and Bianca, do whatever Zoe tells you because I don't care, but we are leaving before—" I was cut off by a rather loud roar.

"Kitty gets here" I groaned turning back to the ramp, and yep there it was, a very large, very gold, and extremely angry Nemean Lion in all its mythical glory.

"Fuck" I sighed, as it stopped in front of me and let out another roar.

"Wow, your breath is very unpleasant" I said waving the smell away it growled as if in understanding of my insult.

"Nice kitty, good kitty, you want some Meowmix?" I asked stepping back slightly, if it was angry before it was down right incensed now.

"Move!" I yelled hopping back as it swiped at my chest, everyone scattered and arrows immediately flew over my shoulders to impact the lion only to do, absolutely nothing, impenetrable skin everyone.

Two clones were immediately at its sides hacking away and leaping back as it thrashed around in a rage, I stood there calmly already knowing what needed to be done, the only way to kill the damn thing was to either A have the strength of Hercules and break its neck, or B get it from the mouth.

Zoe and Bianca had climbed the Apollo capsule to get a better sniping position, Grover was playing some cadence on his pipes which was actually helping my clones keep the monster distracted, Percy was attacking as well and trying not to get run over as my clones skipped and jumped around the creature. Thalia was looking for an opening to jump in as well but I had a different plan, not a good plan, but a plan nonetheless.

I grabbed her shoulder "you want to help me do something completely crazy?" I asked she looked at me sharply.

"What?" she asked but I already grabbed her shield, "hey!" she shouted but I shushed her.

"On my cue, stab it in the mouth" I said quickly.

"What's your cue?" she asked but I merely grinned.

"You'll know it when you see it" I said.

I turned and ran towards it as she shouted after me, my clones immediately began pushing Grover and Percy out of the way before wrapping dagger and chains around it's forearms, they then began to engage in a brutal game of three way tug of war. I felt like a referee for a second and I think it was time to throw out the red flag, or whatever professional tug of war referees do. It bucked wildly and they could barely hold it, sliding across the wooden floors, one even lost it's footing for a second before pulling back with a fury, it was messy but it was enough as I jumped in front of it.

With its arms currently occupied, not to mention the rage that blossomed in it's eyes when it saw me, I knew it could do only one thing, it's maw opened to reveal the many, many gleaming sharp teeth. It lurched forward to take a nice bite out of me at the same time that I shoved myself into it, my foot stomped into the space between two of it's bottom teeth as I shoved the shield into the top row, it immediately began to try and crush me.

The shield groaned at the strain, or was that me? But with a roar I managed to force its mouth back open a bit, "Thalia!" I yelled but she was already there shoving her spear down it's throat with a war cry. It went in deep and blood began to spill quickly covering me as it chocked on the spear, it reared back wildly ripping the spear from Thalia's grip and taking me with it, I heard a horrible screech come from the shield while it's pain induced strength managed to pull my clones completely off their feet and drag them forward as it tried to retreat.

"Oh no you don't!" I yelled pulling my left leg up and smashing the back end of the spear forcing it all the way through the roof of its mouth and into its skull.

It made a pitiful gurgle before falling onto it's back, I spilled from its mouth covered in it's thick blood which was completely disgusting by the way, it twitched once, twice, and then lied still, I stood over it breathing heavily, my arms felt like jelly and the shield slipped from my grasp clanging on the museum floor, okay, that plan was definitely not my best but if it works it works I guess.

Alarms were blaring and security was scrambling up from the lower floors, I watched as the Nemean Lion began to melt, but a very interesting thing happened, the pelt, the impenetrable golden pelt stayed behind, shrinking to that of a normal lion. The spear was still sticking from its mouth, and I shakily grabbed the end and heaved the whole thing pelt and all onto my shoulder, I grabbed the shield and trudged over to Thalia who stared at me, as our group reformed.

Thalia just stared, hell no one made a sound and it was making me slightly uncomfortable, I silently returned her shield, luckily there were no dents just a long scratch down the front from where the lion bucked with me trapped.

"That was a wonderful stab dear" I said lightly handing her the spear before pulling the pelt from the tip.

Her mouth was set in a grim line, but I ignored her in favor of throwing the pelt across her shoulders and tying it off at the front paws. It grazed across the floor because of her height but I'm sure we could figure that out later, but then it shifted and shrank until it became a long coat much like my own, with golden fur lining the edges, interesting.

We stared at each other for a few moments, and she looked like she really wanted to say something but Grover spoke up then.

"We have to get out of here, everybody won't be distracted for long" he said and I nodded.

"Let's go" I stated shoving my hands into my coat and walking swiftly back the way we came, luckily the blood faded from my person as well, as we made our way through the small crowd of very confused people.

Apparently, Grover had played a confusion song, it wouldn't last long but it was enough for us to get out of the museum and back outside,and despite the addition of Percy everyone still had plenty of room in the car. Percy was surprised because he thought they were bunched up in the back seat, I wasn't really in the mood to answer him, still tired from the amount of strength I used against the Nemean Lion, Thalia had replaced her coat with the new impenetrable one but still hadn't spoken a word to me.

I decided it was best to let her stew until she inevitably blew up at me for a reason I think I know, so I turned on some music, keeping it at a reasonable level on the off chance that she decides to explode while I was driving and got back on the road. It wasn't for long though, we were just crossing the Potomac when I heard it, the sound of rotors on the air, just why?, I looked to the skies and spotted it heading right for us, a similar attack helicopter to the one that attacked us at my academy.

Great, I swerved into the fast lane and gunned it, from 4th to 5th and finally to 6th gear, we were zooming down the road going about a hundred and sixty but it was still gaining on us. D.C. traffic was not a problem as I pushed from lane to lane, they were talking again but I was much too busy not killing us to listen, and therefore father would have been very good to have at this point.

"We have to ditch the car" Percy called at me.

"No shit" I growled back barely avoiding an SUV.

"There! That parking lot!" Bianca yelled and I didn't argue, I shot across the lanes and drifted into a mall parking lot just as she specified.

I brought us to a screeching halt and hopped out, everyone else rushed out as well as I came to the hood and slapped it pulling the golden coin from the metal as the car morphed back into the white van.

I would have suggested getting back in but the helicopter already spotted us, I saw them rush down some steps and quickly followed, I made it to the group as they were at the ticket purchase.

"Let's go south, Alexandria" she said quickly and Thalia nodded.

"Anything" she said.

I bought the tickets while they were agreeing and handed them over, "let's move, they could be leaving the chopper at any moment" I said grimly flipping the coin before placing it in my breast pocket.

We got through the turnstiles easy enough but everyone was flighty, checking behind them at every little noise, surprisingly nobody was actually following us from what my clones could see, I dispelled them when we got on the almost empty train and was promptly hit with a wave of nausea.

I leaned over and placed my forehead against the cool glass of the window, I was using too much magic, how many clones did I summon so far? Dammit, and the physical exhaustion from the quick bout with the Nemean Lion was definitely not helping anything, getting weak this early on was shameful but it didn't change the fact that I needed to rest soon. The train came above ground and I spotted the chopper still circling the parking lot, it didn't move after us thankfully, I sighed heavily as the group began to talk, there were barely any people with us so they spoke freely of the situation.

I blocked everything out as I focused on resting, but a strong grip on my arm ripped me from my break, I looked down to see Thalia glaring up at me before dragging me from the window and pulling me to another car. The quick movement as well as the jostling of the train had me wanting to vomit again, so when we entered the next car I immediately sat down in the nearest seat and put my head in my hands to try and curb the ever-growing annoyance.

"I'm going to assume you're going to yell at me" I muttered before looking up at her scowling face, emotions swam across her eyes wildly.

"You're an idiot" she growled before beginning to pace in front of me.

"May I ask why?" I asked closing my eyes.

"You're suicidal, overconfident, and stupid" she spat whirling on me, sparks shot off her clothes in her anger I stayed silent waiting for her to continue.

"Do you think you're invincible? Running off to fight a Nemean Lion like it was a Sunday stroll? You could have died! Are you fucking crazy?" she screamed at me, I was shocked as I had never heard her curse before, she was worried.

"You don't need to do things alone, it's a five man quest! We're supposed to be a team! Work together… what do you want me to do when you run off and do stupid shit like that? You picked me to watch your back, yet you don't tell me anything! If this is what you're going to do every time we run into trouble you're not going to be in any good shape to fight this Titans Wrath or whatever!" She yelled.

Shit, this is also probably coming from the capture the flag incident as well, wow she can hold emotions in like a champ.

"What am I supposed to tell Nico if you go and die doing something stupidly heroic? You don't need to show us that your the damn best, we already know it! Hell even Idiot Zoe knows it, and what about your father? What's he going to do when I tell him that you died on this quest because we couldn't keep up with your random bouts of "badass"? What about? What about?" she stopped and looked away with a sigh.

She didn't have to go on, what about her? Dammit I'm an idiot, our fucking weakness, the need for me and father to be in the spotlight completely overwrote my need for planning a hundred moves ahead. I rose to my feet unsteadily as she wrapped her arms around herself, she refused to look at me, I grabbed her arms and brought her in for a hug.

She fought for a second but calmed down, only to start hitting me in the chest, I grunted at a particular hit and she stopped finally sated with her physical outburst.

"You can't even fucking stand straight your so damn tired already" she growled out, her voice muffled by my turtleneck.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I was being an idiot. I'm lucky to have brought you because if I didn't I probably would have kept putting my life in danger, the prophecy may say that I will fight the Titans Wrath but prophecies can be broken, I won't put you through that again" I said soothingly rubbing her arms.

"Just, let me help, tell me your plans, let me watch your back like I promised to do" she muttered before returning the hug, that made me feel much better, we stayed like that for a while before something began nagging me.

I called her name, and she responded with a small grunt, "who's Luke?" I asked lightly and I felt her tense.

"Please, not now" she sighed and I nodded into her hair.

"When you're ready" I muttered, dammit now I really don't like this Luke guy...

For half an hour, we hopped from train to train, twice I believe and at this point I had no idea where we would end up, the helicopter was lost sometime during the last ride, and we were now at the end of the line an industrial area from what I could tell. Railway tracks holding abandoned carts surrounded us and the cold was biting for anyone that didn't have some sort of magical coat, luckily Thalia and I did, however I did feel sorry for the others as they pulled their coats tighter, teeth chattering.

My turtleneck was enough when it came to blocking out the cold, my long coat was just an add on, so I decided to give my coat to Bianca. She stared at it for a few moments before staring at me.

"Take it, while Nico may be a bit cross with you at this point, I don't think he would want his only sister to freeze out here" I said lightly, I glared at Zoe who was about to say something as Bianca took it with a quiet thanks.

I returned to Thalia, who glared at me "what? I already got you a coat" I chuckled.

"What? Nothing's wrong" she said looking somewhere else, I hugged her.

"It's okay, she has the coat but you get me to heat you up" I whispered.

"That wasn't the problem but whatever, and get off" she muttered pushing me away.

I laughed and she smiled rolling her eyes, good thing damage control is one of my strongest skills, we kept exploring the place when I got an odd feeling coming from a homeless man standing by a fire can, he gave a toothless grin and called us over to get warm by the fire. We huddled around it placing their hands out, well they did I just stood back a little bit and kept my eye on the homeless man, I don't know what it was, but he seemed familiar.

"Well this is just great" Thalia sighed warming her hands,

"My hooves are frozen" Grover whined, Percy corrected him for the sake of the homeless man as Bianca brought up the idea of contacting the camp for assistance.

I don't think they would even try to help us if we did and Zoe voiced just as much, I looked out realizing that somewhere out west a goddess was chained up having terrible things done to her more than likely, I may not like her very much but the idea of torture has never sat well with me. Some monster was going to destroy the Greek pantheon and I really wouldn't care about that if I didn't have Nico and Thalia to think about, and we were stuck in an old rail yard, on the outskirts of D.C. Hmm I wonder if I can turn a train cart into a car? No, the protean coin has limits I think, and damn I'm exhausted.

"You know, you're never completely without friends" the homeless man spoke up, and that caught my attention.

"You kids need a train going west?" he asked and I narrowed my eyes.

"How did you know that?" I asked but he merely chuckled.

"I've met many people, you learn to read them at my age" he said with a smile, yep I definitely know this guy, just add some pearly white teeth and there you go.

"You know of any?" Percy asked and he merely pointed a greasy hand over to the side.

A freight train we never noticed, completely free of snow and massive, carrying at least a triple decks worth of cars with steel curtains protecting them, the trains name was SUN WEST LINE. oh yeah, I know this guy but at least he's not a blonde pretty boy this time.

"that's… convenient, thanks uh" Thalia said turning back to the guy, but when we weren't looking the guy was gone, as well as the fire.

"I believe you want to say, Apollo" I grumbled as they looked at me confused.

"Seriously?" I asked them.

"That didn't look like Apollo" Percy said looking at me oddly and I sighed.

"You think gods can't change their forms? Have you seen my father? Come on the damn train's called Sun West Line, we just so happen to need to go west where his SISTER is being held captive" I explained.

Finally, a light of recognition flashed in their eyes and I shook my head, "come on, let's get on the train" I sighed heading towards the gleaming locomotive.

Thalia walked by me and I was reminded of the first time we met Apollo, "still think Apollo is hot?" I asked snidely as she stumbled, she shuddered.

"Definitely not when he looks like that, though the other form" she trailed off grinning at me.

I nodded, we can play this game I looked over at Zoe as she led Bianca up towards one of the cars.

"You know, if Zoe wasn't so bitchy all the time, she'd be pretty hot herself" I said idly, Thalia whipped her head around to look at me.

"You did not just say that" she said, I shrugged.

"I mean she's no goddess but, she's up there" I said, quickly hopped away as an electrified hand reached out at me.

"Ah ha! Now you know how I feel when you talk about Apollo" I said wiping an imaginary tear from my eye.

She glared at me with a huff before raising her hands, "alright, doesn't feel so good" she said crossing her arms.

"Thank you" I said with a bow returning to her side, then my arm went numb again and I glared at her.

"Just kidding I don't understand at all" she laughed.

Her laugh was contagious and soon we were both chuckling as we made our way over to a black Mercedes SLK, she immediately began to hotwire it but I slapped her hands away and placed the Protean Coin on the radio. It came to life immediately, Justin Timberlake's voice began blaring from the speakers and I was two seconds from stabbing them until Thalia changed the station and some unknown alternative-rock began playing.

Percy joined us when a band called The White Stripes as Thalia happily informed me started playing, I let him in so that I could get to know the guy, as well as make him feel really stupid because he probably made this quest a bit harder with his presence.

"So, Percy" I said lightly, Thalia cut me a look and grinned, we get along so well.

"Yeah?" he asked from the backseat as Thalia turned the music down a bit.

"What made you fly all the way from camp to join us?" I asked turning in my seat to look at him, he looked a bit sheepish.

"I had a very bad feeling" he said looking me in the eye, I thought about that and yeah, I've been getting bad feelings since this thing started.

"I can understand that, however, don't you think those bad feelings come from the fact that the Prophecy said that some of us might die?" I asked and he shrugged.

"Maybe, but, I don't know I felt like I had to be here, to help" he said looking out the window.

I nodded, classic hero attitude straight from a comic book, "okay, so this bad feeling was so bad that it forced to you climb on a Pegasus and fly all the way to us, and in the process probably piss off the fates so bad that they are going to make it very hard for all of us to get through this alive?" I asked staring at him.

He blinked, "what are you talking about?" he asked shaking his head.

I continued to stare at him willing for him to get the point "how many people did the prophecy say were going on this quest again?" I asked.

Thalia snorted and Percy's eyes widened, "five" he whispered.

"Yes five, and we now have?" I asked causing him to look down.

He gave the correct answer of six, well at least he wasn't a complete idiot, "good, now what do you think the fates are going to do?" I asked.

"I don't know!" he shot back probably berating himself for his leaping without thinking.

"I think you do know, it's probably changed a might, or a may, to a will, and a definitely" I growled at him, I did not like his snappy tone when it came to something he did wrong.

"Dude the seat!" Thalia shouted pulling my hand off the leather seat, it was smoking slightly dammit I was angry again.

I really need to learn how to control that it could come in handy but not right now, calm down you know why he did it, you would have done the same for Thalia.

"Sorry, sorry, okay I know why you did it, I do, but now you understand why you need to think first so here's what we're going to do" I said extending a hand, it just so happened to be the hand that was smoking a second ago and he stared at it.

I sighed and switched hands, he looked at it for a second before taking it, "I am the strongest demi-god on this quest, I am taking it as my job to make sure everyone gets back alive, you jumped in without thinking so now it is your job as well, repeat after me EVERYONE. Returns. Alive." I stated.

He repeated what I said with a nod and a determined gleam in his eyes, I smirked "we'll be the best of friends, I just know it" I said releasing his hand and leaning back into my seat with a sigh.

Well, at least I got someone else who's prime objective is to keep these guys alive and well, maybe this quest won't be too bad? Oh, who am I kidding, this is going to be a shit show of epic proportions starring Alfred Loki Von-fucking-Stein.

 **Chapter End**

 **Things are starting to heat up a bit, I wonder what I'm going to have Alfred do about the whole Luke and Thalia situation, jealous or understanding? Questions for later.**

 **Anyway, same as always Read, Review, or Flame it doesn't really matter to me, I'll read them all to alleviate my ever growing boredom.**

 **Take it easy, Vonstein signing out.**


	11. Eleven, Feelings, and Flame Throwers

**Disclaimer. I own nothing but my character, all rights go to Rick Riordan.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 11**

 **Feelings, and Flamethrowers**

Leaning back into the seat I let out a long groan, this day has been very draining so far, emotionally, mentally, and definitely physically.

"Wow you're pretty tired huh?" Percy said from the back seat.

Thalia scoffed and I smiled "well finding the perfect coat for your girl is rather hard" I said causing her to hit me in the arm.

"Too bad the Nemean Lion wasn't the monster we needed to find" Percy muttered.

"Not even close, we've still got a long way to go" Thalia sighed and I nodded at the statement relaxing further into the leather seat.

These luxury cars are very comfortable, if it wasn't for the fact that they were slow as shit... wait the coin can do something about that easily, definitely doing that later.

Percy sighed, "well whatever this mystery monster is, The General said it would come for you. They wanted to isolate you from the group, so the monster could appear and fight you one on one" he said and I narrowed my eyes at that.

"Like hell" I growled glancing at the Thalia who sent me a sly grin, cheeky females and their grins when i'm trying to be serious.

"Looks like I'm live bait" she said cheekily and I glared at her.

"Not if I can help it little girl" I stated and she rose an eyebrow.

"Oh so I'm a little girl now?" she asked and I chuckled.

"You are if you only come up to my chest" I shot back.

She scoffed at that, but I could make out the light grin on her features betraying her fake anger at the comment.

"Do you have any idea what the monster can be Thalia?" Percy said trying to get back on topic, because somebody had too.

She shook her head and shrugged, "no clue, but you do realize where we're going right? San Francisco, that's where Artemis was heading" she informed and I rose an eyebrow, San Francisco was a very entertaining city from what my father said.

It was actually where he met mother initially as she was on a trip to visit some family of ours that lived over there, but why was she making a big deal out of it? "What's wrong with San Francisco?" I asked glancing over at her.

"The mist is extremely thick over there, due to the close proximity with the Mountain of Despair" she said and I was rather confused with both of those terms.

"Okay first, mist? And second Mountain of Despair, explain in that order" I said turning my head to look at her and the very shocked face she had on currently.

"You don't know what mist is?" she asked and I chuckled.

"I wouldn't have asked if I did" I said lightly, I mean I've heard them toss the word around a couple of times but have never cared until now.

"Wow, I just thought that you would know, seeing as it's everywhere" she said shaking her head.

"You do realize that we are from different pantheons, right? Terms don't translate very well, at least for me, I haven't met any other demigod pantheons so I wouldn't rightly know but it's an educated guess" I said with a small shrug.

She nodded, "yeah, okay that makes sense, so the mist is… a veil, it hides all the monsters and supernatural stuff from mortals and the like, it's what allows monsters to blend in for better, or otherwise" she explained making many hand motions when certain words escaped her grasp.

This made sense, so I nodded in understanding more mist means more monsters, more monsters meant stronger monsters, which in turn led to a bigger headache for Alfred, lovely.

"Mountain of Despair?" I asked again once she was done.

"I'd tell you to ask stupid Zoe as she's the expert, but while I wouldn't mind you harming her, we do need her for this quest" she said with a sigh and a glare towards the car our two Hunters resided in.

I decided to leave it at that, seeing as she was no longer in the talking mood, her attitude towards miss Nightshade while understandable seeing as their personalities are quite similar so they would obviously push each other away, it still confused me, there's history there that didn't click in my mind. Then Percy said something that slammed all thoughts to a stop.

"The Hunters tried to recruit you" he said coming to a firm realization, my head snapped over to look at her of my own volition, completely disregarding any soreness in the action of just seeing her reaction to that claim.

From her expression, he was spot on, her eyes got that twinkle as if they were brimming with unreleased electrical power but then her whole body seemed to deflate before my eyes as she sighed.

"I almost joined them" she admitted looking anywhere but me, my mouth dropped open for a second as I stared at her but whether she didn't see me or chose to not acknowledge it was unknown as she continued with her story.

"Luke, Annabeth, and I ran into them once and Zoe tried to convince me, she almost did, but…" she stopped and glanced at me before she finished gripping the wheel hard, "I would've had to leave Luke" she whispered.

I looked out the window, I couldn't really look at her at this point, I mean it was childish I know because Luke was off doing evil things and I was the one next to her but I just couldn't help but despise that fucking name more and more every time it comes out of someone's damn mouth. I felt eyes on me but I just kept my eyes on the passing terrain, I would've probably said something stupid to get back at her for doing absolutely nothing wrong, besides fall for a guy.

"Zoe and I got into a fight, she told me I was being stupid, that I would regret my decision. She said Luke would let me down someday" she finished, that was a stupid reason, everyone gets heartbroken sometime in life, that isn't a good enough reason to swear off love forever to gallivant around killing monsters and becoming stagnant forever.

"That's harsh" Percy said, "hard to admit she was right" he finished, before Thalia rounded on him.

"She wasn't right! Luke never let me down. Never" she defended, defended, she was defending the asshole, I growled.

"If he's with this General guy, just keep him out of my way or else" I said leaving the unspoken words on the air, she was looking at me, I didn't look back because dammit I couldn't just keep my mouth shut.

Thankfully Percy brought her attention back on him before I stuck my foot further down my throat, "we'll have to fight him" he said softly "there's no way around it".

She had nothing to say to that, "you haven't seen him lately" he continued, bad idea you're going to piss her off more "I know it's hard to believe, but-".

"I'll do what I have too" she cut him off tersely.

"Even if it means killing him?" he said and nothing but silence met him for a long moment, sadly I wasn't confident of the answer she was going to give, and I hated the fact that I somewhat understood.

"Do me a favor, get out of my car" she said and whether she was talking to me or him, I didn't know but when Percy got out I did as well I stepped out and looked back in to see her eyes closed, she was in pain and I didn't do anything to help, I didn't want too.

"When we get to where we're going, just pull the coin from the radio" I said before closing the door just a little too hard, the car rocked but I didn't care letting my anger and frustration from the past 24 hours wash over me as I slammed my heel into some yellow Hummer.

The sound of the metal bending in on itself filled the area as the front end of the Hummer bent in and parts of the engine stabbed through the hood, I growled loudly and pulled my leg from the destroyed vehicle with a heavy screeching noise. The fender popped off with my heel and I kicked it hard across the train letting it smash into the window of a Lamborghini, Ooops.

"Sorry Grover" I called as he popped his head back over the steering wheel.

"No prob" he called back shakily and I shook my head as the anger left me, Percy was staring at me sadly from outside said car.

Lying back on the hood of a Prius of all things I wasn't surprised when the same homeless man from the rail-yard leaned on the hood next to me.

"You know if you were going to be anybody Apollo why be a dirty homeless man?" I grumbled.

He shushed me quickly before looking up, hearing nothing he sighed "I'm incognito, call me Fred" he said quietly.

I rolled my eyes "so the big man is stopping you from saving your own sister, how lovely" I commented dryly.

Apollo, or I'm sorry Fred shrugged "we have our rules" he said, "but nobody messes with my sister, nobody" he hissed cutting me a look but I shrugged.

"She messed with me first" I defended idly and he nodded.

"I should still burn you with the force of the sun but you are my best bet at getting her back" he said.

"We're running out of time" I informed him and he nodded again, it was odd to see a man with a beard nod so much.

"I know, it's getting tight and the fact that I can't see her or even where she is grates on my all too fragile nerves" he said with a chuckle.

"What about this monster everyone is so up in arms about?" I asked and he shook his head.

"No clue, however there is someone who might, his name is Nereus and he's called the old man of the seas, he's seen a lot and remembers everything which means he should have an idea of what this magical beastie is." He said and I nodded.

He then leaned over and gave me a look, "I see you're having lady troubles" he whispered consolingly, I rolled my eyes.

"Nothing I can't handle I assure you" I said watching the setting sun.

He chuckled "ah women, you know I feel a haiku coming on" he said leaning back.

"You do that and I'll do everything in my power to destroy every form of poetry on this planet" I deadpanned.

He smirked and rose an eyebrow "you know if you weren't who you were, I would destroy you" he said.

"I've been getting that a lot lately" I grumbled, trust me I know i'm not making a large amount of friends, but hell I got who I got.

"Zeus isn't that big of a fan of you either" he informed.

"I'm pretty sure whatever my father did to him, he'll get over it" I threw out, and Fred shrugged.

"Hey don't be so sure, that particular god can hold one hell of a grudge" he said with a sigh, there was a story there but I honestly didn't care.

I sighed and closed my eyes, "you know we're almost there right? I don't think you have time to sleep" he said and I growled.

My powers were still far from recharged and we were entering a place filled with monsters.

"However, since I am betting on you, I guess I can give you a gift from the house" he said placing a grizzled hand on my shoulder.

It felt like my blood lit on fire and I shot up into a seated position with a loud curse, holy shit it burns, I curled up slightly and just focused on letting the blood flow.

"There you go! Recharged and ready to go save my sister, you are very welcome" he said with a bow.

"That hurts dammit" I growled and he laughed.

"Yes I would think so, that was for breaking my cars" he said with a wink and disappeared before I could do something I would probably regret.

However, I had to hand it to him, once I stopped feeling like my blood was replaced with nothing but boiling adrenaline I felt completely fresh and ready to go, I guess this Mountain of Despair wasn't going to be that big of a problem after all, Apollos not so bad, despite being a blonde pretty boy.

It was well into the night now, and I almost wished that Apollo had waited to give me that boost so that I could actually sleep, damn gods. Thalia was asleep in the Mercedes some soft song playing over the radio, but I still wasn't ready to get back in that car with her despite how much I wanted to see what adorable face she made while sleeping. That was when I noticed Zoe standing by the steel curtain staring up at the stars. Well, I guess I could try that whole olive branch thing now seeing as I have nothing better to do, so I made my way over and leaned on the curtain next to her, she didn't acknowledge my presence as she looked to be completely lost in thought.

I sighed, "you alright?" I asked and she glanced over at me before returning her gaze to the stars above.

"I don't see why thee should care" she said quietly and I shrugged, hey she had a point I guess.

"Alright look, I know we've gotten off to a rather horrible start but I would like to tell you that, at least on my end I'm going to try and be just a bit more civil" I stated turning to face her.

She actually looked at me this time, it was a few moments before she actually said anything but when she did it was quiet, much more reserved than her normal tone.

"That, would be an acceptable arrangement" she said her voice getting lost in the sound of the train grinding over the rails.

"Well, I guess I should start by asking again, are you alright?" I asked, because if I could get to the bottom of her problems, the hell who knows maybe the rest of The Hunters will stop giving me stink eye.

She went quiet again and stared up at the stars, "I can see it" she muttered darkly and I decided the best way to understand what she was talking about was to look up there as well.

Gazing up at the stars that were surprisingly bright tonight I made out a couple of constellations, none of them had much to do with the Greeks however, until my eyes landed on the constellation of Hercules.

"Hercules?" I asked and she scowled hard at the mention of his name.

"Do not speak that name in my presence" she growled, I nodded and held my hands up in surrender.

"Alright, I'm just going to assume that there's some really bad history there" I said and she nodded after a few moments, hmm I'm going to push harder.

"Could he, possibly be the reason you joined the hunt?" I asked and her eyes snapped up to mine, eerily bright in the dark of the night, hey that rhymed, go me.

"He's the reason I hate people like you" she said darkly, my mind halted at that one, people like me? I'm pretty sure I act nothing like Hercules, I'm way too smart for that one and I told her as much, only for her to scoff loudly.

"Please, heroes are all the same, wishing for fame and glory without care for anyone thee step on to reach it, men are selfish and heroes even more so, thy only want to use others to reach your goals. Thy don't care, you couldn't possibly care, I see the way thee looks at her, twas the same way HE looked at me, before he threw me to the side like waste. I've tried to warn Thalia, that men are all the same, never trust them, never let them in or they shall hurt her more than any blade can. Thy shall use her until thy is done with her aren't thou? Waiting for the chance to throw her away, but I will not allow it, I will stop you!" she shouted ramping herself up to a full-blown tirade.

I grabbed her shoulder lightly when I saw a tear glisten on her cheek, damn this must have been one hell of a fall out, she shrugged my hand off her and turned away, hiding her weakness from me well, I guess that's why she acts the way she acts, kind of wish I didn't find out now but oh well we live with our choices.

"Let me tell you something Zoe" I said softly leaning my head back on the steel curtain, it gave me some support which I may need because I was about to get deep.

"I never once said I am a hero, to be completely honest with you I don't have the instincts to be a hero, I don't go out of my way to help others on instinct, I don't have a complex such as that." I said and she snorted, good get her to laugh a little, that will make things a hell of a lot better on my end.

"I'm rather selfish to be completely honest, I don't do something without first thinking about what I get out of it, hell my fatal flaws are ambition and greed! I want to be the center of attention and if I want something I'll do almost anything to get it, I have to fight some of those instincts constantly." I stopped as she looked at me.

"Those sound more like the traits of a villain" she muttered, and I nodded.

"Well if you haven't noticed, my father did kill almost every other Norse god out there, but as you can see he's not all bad" I said, well he is all bad but we try and keep that between us.

"So, in conclusion, I have a father that's committed deicide, I'm selfish, ambitious, and powerful, all the traits needed to be a horrible person but I'm not, I'm more in the gray area, just a demigod trying to do right by him" I finished.

That's the first time I've ever explained myself to anyone before, it was surreal to put out all my failings in the open like that but I feel that was exactly what she needed to hear as well. She turned to look at me and nodded.

"I guess thy is not as much of a hero than I thought" she muttered and I nodded.

"so there should be no reason for you to hate me other than the fact that I am a red-blooded male" I said and she nodded.

I pat her on the shoulder and pushed off the curtain, "well whatever happened between you and him, think of it this way, in the end you're alive and he's not, as well as the fact that if the legends are to be believed, he died a horrible death anyway so you win!" I said cheerfully and she actually laughed at that.

Wow I guess I am good, "thou are not so bad, for a man" she said and I nodded.

"Well I'm going to go find something to do until we get to where we're going, you get some sleep I need you ready for whatever the hell greets us when we reach the end of the line" I said and she nodded, see? I'm not an asshole all the time, just most of the time.

I walked away feeling just a bit better, because maybe just maybe we might get out of this thing completely intact, now I just have to think of some way to deal with my current relationship issues and we'll be peaches and cream coming back to the camp. Oh who am I kidding? This is still going to turn out horrible, dammit I wish I could get rid of this bad feeling I'm getting. Whatever everyone's asleep so I guess now would be an appropriate time to try and figure out what the hell this burning hand thing is.

So, there I was leaning against a rather vintage Camaro staring at my hand for what felt like hours when in reality it was more like fifty minutes wondering just what in the hell was going on with my body when I remembered some offhand comment my father made like 4 years ago.

 _"It's possible that you may gain more powers of mine as you grow older, I'm still rather new to this whole demi god situation, while I did say that you only have the two there was an unspoken should in the middle of that statement"_ he had said.

This was interesting, so I may be manifesting another power of his, the control over fire could come in handy, especially if I used it as a trump card in less desirable situations, so far the ability has only been triggered during times of emotional duress. I think I can make myself angry pretty easily, I just have to think about all the shit that I have to deal with at the moment.

"How the hell did I get into this situation?" I muttered staring at my hand as the air around it began to heat up.

I felt nothing but I could see the difference in temperature around my hand, I waved my left hand over it but felt nothing, okay so I think I've heated up the air that's good, but can I actually create fire? I concentrated on my hand, willing the air to get hotter, I held my hand over the Camaro and the paint began to bubble and blacken. Damn that's hot, but why is there no actual flame? Maybe, if I create a spark? I snapped and my hand lit up so fast I fell off my perch and onto the floor of the train, I tried hard not to shout as the fire shot up about ten feet and licked the ceiling like a damn flamethrower.

Shit, how do I put it out?

"Okay, okay, calm down" I said forcing my heart rate to slow and take deeper breaths, the fire began to die down slowly until finally it was just hovering over my hand.

Deep yellows and oranges flickered over my palm almost sputtering out but holding on to existence until I closed my hand and it went out just like that, I looked up at the scorch marks on the ceiling and chuckled at the irony. I just scorched the sun, how about that? Father will be proud, I laid back on the floor just letting the rocking motion of the train soothe my mind as it went over the many applications of this power.

Could I control the flames with my mind? Does this extend to any flame or just the ones I create? Can I use it with more than my right hand? How about my whole body? I think it would be pretty cool to be The Human Torch. I sighed and stared out at the passing stars, I knew we were going fast but I've always loved how no matter how fast you're moving, you will never escape the stars, they will always be blinking down at you, all knowing, ever present, they've seen everything that has happened in the world, and everything that will happen. It's funny what you think about when you're alone, how the mind can just take a break from all worries and focus on something completely irrelevant. I guess that's what we need sometimes, to just, stop.

I awoke as the train stopped, I blinked up at the ceiling lazily wondering where I was until my eyes rested on the scorch mark still present, I chuckled a bit as I stood up and stretched, bones popped in my back and I groaned in satisfaction at the nap I had. Everyone was moving slowly, shaking off the last vestiges of sleep, I saw Bianca and Zoe who gave me a nod in greeting which was infinitesimally better than before.

I thought about taking my long coat back from Bianca until my eyes laid on the outside world and I realize we had stopped in a rather cold place, snow covered the ground and fell lightly from the sky. She can keep it for now, it also has the added benefit of keeping her alive should she get hit with anything deadly, I saw Thalia step out of the Mercedes and the golden glint that came from her hand told me she didn't forget the coin. Our eyes met for a split second before she looked away quickly, I couldn't read her eyes in that small amount of time which irritated me a bit but I already knew this was going to be an uphill battle ever since the name Luke came up in the first place.

Grover and Percy rushed off ahead while the rest of the group followed me at a more sedated pace, I looked around at the snow-covered town until I found something that told me just where exactly we were. New fucking Mexico, why? Why are we in Cloudcroft New Mexico? Anyway, as we made our way deeper into the town I decided to let everyone know the next part of our plan.

"San Francisco? How are we going to get there?" Bianca asked and I shrugged because I haven't planned on being in New Mexico, damn gods.

"There's no bus station, no taxis, no car rental, no way out of here" Thalia groaned as she looked around from our position in the middle of town.

"Well to be fair, we don't necessarily need any of those things, we just need a car" I said with a shrug.

"You're going to steal someone's car?" Percy asked, well I wouldn't have too if the the train didn't leave immediately upon our departure, damn gods.

"I prefer, commandeering" I said simply before looking around for any vehicle that may be of use.

Finally, Grover started listing off food shops, he's been doing it for a while and honestly it was getting really annoying so I told them to go eat while I figure out our next move, Zoe of all people decided to help me and I didn't miss the look on Thalia's face as we set off together, this definitely was not helping my case but she was being rather unapproachable at the moment.

"You realize you're just making me look bad to her right?" I asked Zoe who glared at me.

"Like anything can happen between us, how vulgar of thee to think so" she said but I shook my head, what would happen? Would Arty get mad? By father I hope she could hear me call her Arty, the look of outrage would be priceless.

"It's not about what I think, it's about what Thalia perceives" I said looking around.

"Well good she needs to start understanding that thy cannot rely on men" she said resolutely, now I remember why I snapped at her every two seconds.

"She doesn't rely on me she's strong enough on her own, however I would enjoy it if you didn't decide to try and sabotage anything that goes on between Thalia and I, or I'll show you what I do to enemies" I said simply.

She shook her head but kept any other comments to herself, fuck how do these people not have cars? It's either that or they are in garages or something because all I can see are stores and sad looking people around, not to mention all the damn snow. We wrapped back around to see everyone regrouped with snacks and coffee in Grover's case, Zoe immediately entered boss mode as she told Grover to do another tracking spell, Thalia rolled her eyes and I smirked at her reaction.

I decided to stand next to her to see how she would react, she didn't step away which was good I guess but she wasn't actively looking at me either.

"Umm, I think so I just need to-" he froze completely.

I looked at the cup, and fuck a duck, Grover dropped the cup and the tiny dove decorations on it peeled from paper and flew away completely real, like something out a magicians act.

A rat toy Percy had for some odd fucking reason came to life in his hands and as he tossed it away it took off across the railing into the forest, it was also real not good not good. Two clones came to life next to me and took off in different directions completely cloaked, they were scanning the area to see if anything was going to get the drop on us and god dammit they didn't come up short.

We were getting surrounded, "we gotta move" I stated as they grabbed Grover, "Skeleton warriors, they've found us" I said tossing Grover over my shoulder and taking off towards the forest at the edge of town. Just to see two more Skeleton Warriors break the tree line and step out, garbed in New Mexico police uniforms, Well shit, I guess this should have been expected… Alfred just can't catch a fucking break.

 **So sorry for the late update but you know how life is, working on the next chapter as we speak and I shall hopefully have it up a hell of a lot sooner than this one came. If anyone is wondering just why Alfred is cursing more and more as time goes on it's because I like to place a bit of myself in every character I make, and in my case the more frustration I feel the more I end up cursing like a Sailor who stubbed his toe.**

 **Read, Review, Flame it's all good to me, and if there are any questions about the story and what direction i'm going with it don't be afraid to PM, I may answer your question.**

 **Vonstein Signing Out.**


	12. Twelve, Pan, and Pig Mothers

**Disclaimer. I own nothing but my character, all rights go to Rick Riordan.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 12**

 **Pan, and Pig Mothers**

By father how do I get into these situations? It's like the world is out to get me, what did I ever do to deserve treatment like this? I'm just the son of Loki...okay so maybe that might be the only reason actually needed. Whatever, okay so there I was, drugged out Satyr on my back, crazy skeleton warriors with guns pointed at me and a group of rather distressed demi-gods around me, and all I can think is can things just calm down for a second on this crazy ass quest? One second, that's all I ask.

"Can we retreat?" I called to The Hunters at the rear, hoping beyond hope that we didn't have to deal with this situation, some call this running, I prefer tactical retreat.

"No we're surrounded!" Zoe called back as two more skeleton warriors, similarly dressed in those New Mexico police uniforms stalked out of the forest onto the road behind us.

I shook my head, well at least they only had handguns, though dodging bullets is not going to be a fun situation to relive, memories of father sporting a crazed grin yelling dodge over and over assaulted my mind, no this is not the time for horrible memories! Dammit I needed a plan…It's a good thing I'm me.

"Bianca block Zoe! My coat is bullet proof, Thalia I need you to block Grover from any stray fire" I said letting Grover slide off my back onto the ground as he began to moan something about "the wild" or whatever that meant, and what the hell did they give this man? Goat-nip?

Thalia nodded as she crouched over the delirious Satyr, "can you dodge a bullet?" I asked Percy pulling my knives and he looked at me oddly, why do they always do that? I only ask reasonable questions.

"I don't know? Can you?" he asked and I chuckled at the stupid question, giving the only correct answer.

"Of course I can, I'm me" I said, and honestly I was surprised they hadn't started firing yet.

That was quickly rectified however, when one popped a shot off and I leaned to the side only to quickly duck as it pinged loudly off Thalia's shield and shot over my head I looked back at her rather shocked expression as she looked at me then the shield then back to me.

"Sorry!" she called with a nervous smile, I shook my head with a grin before taking off at a dead sprint towards the skeleton warriors.

"Bianca! Zoe! Line your shots up, I got two meat shields blocking you!" I shouted.

Two clones popped into existence in front of them as they took aim.

"Meat shields!?" They exclaimed as the skeleton warriors started firing, I swear they were mouthing off more and more as I summoned them.

The bullets bounced off the clones as they rushed forward proving completely ineffective when faced with enchanted clothing you just have to love father some times, he was scary brilliant, even for a god. Percy got the picture and rushed with me towards our opponents and as they fired I was surprised to see Percy instead of dodging the incoming fire like myself, bounce the projectiles from his sword like some crazy action movie, and I had to hand it to him, it was pretty badass.

Not one to be outdone I began to do that as well, time seemed slow as I glanced the bullets from my blades, I even cut a few of them in half before I reached my target, now the best way to deal with any skeleton warrior if I remember correctly is to severe their limbs preferably the head and keep it away from the rest of the body.

So, with a spin I dug my dagger into the side of its neck and forced it through, the head bounced off the body and just to be sure it was done for I roundhouse kicked it towards the tree line, the pistol was dropped as the hands scrambled for the missing skull and it reminded me of a rather funny Halloween movie I saw one time with father.

Wait stop, no time for memories the skeleton warriors were recovering from our initial rush. I did a once over, my clones were down more than likely the Skeleton warriors got wise and shot them in the head, and it seemed that Bianca and Zoe's arrows were doing fuck all in terms of putting them down, but when a skeleton warrior got too close to Bianca she drew her knife and rammed it into its chest, pretty feisty for someone completely new to this demi-god thing.

It immediately burst into flames, how the hell did she do that? Were their daggers enchanted? No if they were then the arrows being their main weapons would assuredly be enchanted in the same way, so how...and that's when I got hit with such a feeling of retardation that it almost hurt, seriously I staggered a bit.

"Daughter of fucking Hades!" I yelled slapping a hand to my forehead.

I grabbed the skeleton warrior in front of me by the collar, it tried to resist but I wasn't having any sass from something without a damn brain, I dragged it behind me as I rushed towards Bianca and that's when I noticed Grover try and pull from Thalia in order to hug a tree or something and made a mental note to check on the guy after this, Goat-nip seemed to be a little strong.

I hopped over Thalia as she looked at me like I was crazy, I sent her a wink as I skid in front of Bianca still staring at the ashen remains of the Skeleton, I grabbed her hand still clutching the knife and rammed it into the skeleton warrior's chest, I let go as it burst into ash like it's companion.

"Control over the damned" I said with a smirk, her eyes went wide as the realization hit her, good I wasn't the only here who received the equivalent of a brain fart.

Then there was a series of loud crashes coming from the left side of the forest and I cursed loudly, that was probably reinforcements that I am really not in the mood for, Zoe and Percy backed away as the Skeleton warriors held them at baton length, which was stupid seeing as they had weapons… Not the time.

"Plan?" Percy asked coming up next to Thalia and I grinned.

"Pin them and let Bianca murder them" I said grabbing another about the shoulders, it tried to swing its baton down on my arm but I was already flipping it over my shoulders to slam onto the ground in front of Bianca where she then ended its existence post haste.

More crashing, Grover was still moaning and there was only one more to deal with before we got the hell out of there, I had my back to it and turned as a loud clang rang out, I spun and saw Thalia blocking the baton strikes.

"I got your back" she said and I smiled.

"Thanks, beautiful" I replied before reaching over her and dragging the skeleton warrior around her side, it really helps to work on strength when you're demi god, the base strength is nice but going to the gym does wonders.

Bianca stabbed the last one in the back and it was rejected from our plane of existence. It was then that I noticed something, if Thalia was here, who was watching Grover? I looked over and saw him full on sprinting over to a tree.

"Hey! Horse Shoe! The hell you doing?" I called as he reached out and touched it gingerly, he turned back to me and uttered two words.

"A gift" he said softly but it somehow traveled the expanse of the clearing with startling clarity.

Now when I say a giant pig came blasting out of the trees like some angry force of all that is bacon, I mean it, and to be completely honest with you, it scared the hell out of me.

"Oh, hell no" I groaned staring at this thirty foot tall monstrosity that somebody out there decided to call a pig.

Thalia raised her spear at the pig, well boar now that I think about it due to the tusks, when Grover shouted out for us to not kill it the man was definitely not on the same page as us. Zoe got a good look at the creature and her eyes widened as she exclaimed that we might not be able to as it was The Erymanthian Boar, I've never heard of it so I just continued to call it Ms. Piggy, Bacon Mother, and Ham-hock in my head, because it made me feel better.

"Bacon Mother looks very pissed off right now" I muttered to the rest of them as it examined the group, it must have heard me because I'm sure it was glaring right at me with those beady black eyes.

I sweat it wished me pain, and I wished it to be food so I guess we were on the same page in regards of our feelings for one another. It gave a loud cry, a battle cry as it began to rush us swinging its tusks looking to impale and maim one of the group, Zoe and Bianca dived out of the way as it crashed through the large town sign while Percy shoved Grover to the side while he screamed something about a blessing from the wild, I was going to smack him after this.

Ms. Piggy however seemed to come to the conclusion that I would be the first of its victims, it glared at me, shaking its tusks to and fro as it pawed the ground.

"Well…shit" I sighed as Bacon Mother took off faster than I honestly thought possible for its size.

I hopped to the side letting it miss me by inches, the stench was completely horrendous and I almost coughed as I spun my knives around in my hand, I had a plan and it involved getting some bacon, which was always a good plan.

"Grover if you don't give me one good reason to not kill this thing, I'm going to kill this thing" I called over to Satyr, just as it managed to make a wide turn and rush back towards me, the plan was to take out it's legs.

I crouched low and waited as it rushed towards me, it kicked up mass amounts of snow behind its heavy gait and I shook my head, eyes on the prize, I clenched the daggers hard until I felt my knuckles go white. Just when I was about to make my move, I was hit full force by a Satyr, high off his ass, screaming once again about the gods damned wild, effectively tackling me out of the way, Ham-hock screamed past us as we rolled several feet away.

Grover got in the way, Grover stopped me, that's it high or not I'm kicking his ass. Pushing the Satyr from my person I grabbed the front of his jacket and shook him.

"What is this quest? Piss of the Nord kid? Are you trying to get me angry!?" I shook him but he only shook his head.

"It's a gift" he mumbled, I dropped him and screamed at the heavens before looked around as someone screamed in reply.

I snapped my gaze to the right and saw Thalia and Percy rush up the snow-covered hill, the damn Bacon Mother hot on their trails, blasting through trees as if they were Papier Mache, by father something was going to die, I glared back at the Satyr.

"If your "gift" hurts my Thalia, I'm turning you into Lamb Chops got me?" I asked and he nodded vigorously, I shook my head and took off after them dodging left and right as ruined trees rolled down towards me with prejudice.

Ever run hurdles on a snowy hill? Well don't, because it's not fun and I'm going to make sure father doesn't hear about it lest he get the bright idea to make it a damned training exercise, because i'll be damned if either of us thought this would actually happen. I reached the hill top just in time to see Percy grab Thalia and run across the train tracks, the damn gift was having trouble keeping itself stable as it made its way down the hillside after them.

I growled before rushing down, if this thing wasn't on a plate in front of me by the end of the day I would be a very disgruntled demi god, I mean seriously? How was this thing a gift? The wild must really have it out for me if this is what they send when we need help, I mean what will they send me when I piss them off? A fucking army of bunnies? They obviously need their heads checked, if they even have them after I'm through showing them my "appreciation".

I made it to the tracks in time to see the damned thing rush into a tunnel after them, that wasn't good they were rushing into a single file passage, normal boars are extremely fast moving in one direction and I would hate to see how fast this thing can really move. I bolted after it, my legs started burning and I was sure I was melting the snow on contact but I didn't let that take my mind out of the game, I needed to catch Ms. Piggy before it did anything to Thalia...and Percy I guess.

I caught sight of its large hind quarters and grinned, ohhhh yes it was mine now, I threw my daggers as hard as I could, they whistled through the air quickly and struck true, the green chains popped to life in my hands and I pulled with all of my being. My legs beginning to bury themselves in the piling snow as I was drug forward. It couldn't look behind itself to see what had struck it but that only made it thrash harder, until I lost sight of it that is.

I was jerked off my feet and began to slide the rest of the way out of the passage, when the sunlight hit me again I noticed that I was in the air, I looked to the side and saw Thalia staring at me wide eyed as I began my inevitable descent to the ground, well shit...fuck gravity, I hit the snow hard and began to roll, right towards a submerged Bacon Mother.

Well might as well make use of this, when life gives you giant demon boar, you make demon bacon or at least that's how I think it goes. I rolled a few more times before I could get my feet under me and with a roar I launched myself at the creature landing on the top side of it that was still visible, I pulled my knives free and rose them to strike a lethal blow to its spine when three voices shouted for me to stop.

"WHY!?" I yelled back completely confused but still keeping my eyes on the struggling creature, Thalia stumbled over to me and waved her arms frantically.

"It's our way out of here, stop! she called through heavy breaths.

I frowned hard before lowering my weapons, it lives...for now.

"It tries to eat us again, and I'm going to eat it" I called down at her, but she rolled her eyes and grinned, well at least she was back to normal.

I sat back on the creature as everyone began to climb it at Grover's insistence, Thalia actually sat next to me and I sighed in relief of not having to deal with more emotional issues for the moment, I was still going to take apart this Luke character with a surgeon's precision when I met him though. A few moments, a bad reed pipe song and a floating apple later we were all situated on this things back.

"So, anyone want to explain to me what this "blessing of the wild" thing is?" I asked looking at the group, I mean hey, if it was going to send more demonic pigs after me I should know exactly who to "thank".

"Did thy not feel something different in the wind?" Zoe asked and I shook my head, it felt like cold wind, something you would expect in a very snowy area.

"It was a surprise surely, I never thought I'd feel that presence again" she said looking off into the woods, speak in riddles again, I dare you.

"Presence?" Percy asked and she looked at him oddly, the pig gave another large shift and I glared down at it fingering my daggers.

"The Lord of the Wild, I felt it for but a second before the boar showed up, the presence of Pan" she said.

I looked at her, "I'm going to assume that's not Peter Pan" I said with a smirk, Percy chuckled but Grover looked affronted, Thalia tried to hide her laugh but failed, Zoe shook her head but I saw the light grin on her features which means another point to Alfred, booyah...Okay never thinking that again, that just felt wrong.

Well I can tell you one thing I learned so far, Boar riding sucks, we haven't even been on this thing twenty minutes and I could already feel my ass going numb, I looked around and saw that everyone had a look of discomfort on their faces, though Thalia, and Zoe tried to hide it admirably. However, that's when an idea popped into my head, probably not a good one, but definitely an entertaining one.

So without much warning I swung my right leg over and let my ankle rest on left knee then reaching back I pulled Thalia bodily over my and set her in my lap, She gave a loud shriek and grabbed onto my shoulders tightly until she felt stable, then she glared at me hard but I just kept the easy grin on my face.

"What? This thing is hurting my ass, so it would stand to reason that it is hurting yours too" I said leaning close, oh yes, I was going for the big ones this time.

"And I'm the only one that can do that" I whispered, she went bright red and I jolted hard as electricity entered my shoulders and down my spine.

"You're an idiot" she growled beet red and sparks flying off that still perfectly messy hair of hers.

I laughed lightly "and you're trying to kill us both, didn't you promise Nico that I'd come back alive?" I asked hugging her to me.

"Alive, but I said nothing about missing a few parts" she snapped lightly.

I chuckled and let my chin rest on her head, she must have been comfortable as I am rather warm even though my father is an Ice giant, and what about the fire powers? How did father come about those? Questions for later, damn I should probably work on answering some of those, they are just piling up. I don't know how long we were on this thing, but about halfway through the ride one of my wishes came true, I got to see Thalia asleep, the rocking motion plus my comfortable person must have knocked her right out.

I looked up from her completely adorable sleeping face, she puckered her lips in her sleep making it very hard not to kiss her, only to see Percy looking back at me. I grinned and mouthed "take notes", he looked at me oddly and I rose an eyebrow grin widening "for Annabeth" I mouthed again and his eyes widened before he looked forward, I could see his ears growing red though, and I could tell it wasn't from the cold.

The mountains were long gone know, replaced by a desert of all things, damn we were going all over the world for this one, at least the chill from the mountains was leaving us behind, though that was going to be replaced by heat pretty soon. I couldn't feel my ass at this point and that irritated me to high Hel, however I think our journey via pig was coming to an end soon because it was heading towards a water source.

It ripped a cactus from the ground and started munching on it, night was beginning to fall and I tucked Thalia in my arms before hopping off its back. We hit the ground lightly as her eyes snapped open, I looked at her for a moment before smiling which caused her to look at me oddly before I kissed her softly and brought her to her feet, red crossing her face as she blinked the last vestiges of sleep from her eyes.

I stepped to the side as she reached out for me blindly, I could hear the electricity crackling at her finger tips.

"This is as far as he'll go" Grover stated looking at the behemoth eating a few more cacti, glutton.

"Yeah that's right fatten up, more bacon for me…Wait did you say he?" I asked the Satyr and he nodded.

"Yeah what did you think he was?" he asked and I shrugged.

"Well I've been calling him pig mother in my head for like the past four hours so" I said idly.

I fingered my daggers while it was distracted but then decided that it was too much work, I wouldn't even have the bacon for like another hour after killing him...though that doesn't stop me from scaring the shit out of him.

Creeping up behind the behemoth I decided to try out something I had been working on in secret for a while, forming other objects out of the green mist instead of just chains, it took a minute but soon I was holding a bright green brand in one hand and an extremely hot flame in the other, a few more moments as well as ignoring the questions from the group I was soon holding a white hot brand.

Smiling with extreme pleasure I walked up to the beast slowly, then striking out as fast as I could I slammed the brand into it's rear end, exactly where one of the daggers pierced before, hey we don't want it to bleed out do we? It reared back quickly and let out a shriek in protest before taking off quickly towards the mountains, a slight smoke trail following it, it could now show "The Wild" that it was property of A.L.J.

With a contented sigh I turned to meet the gazes of very shocked demi-gods, nobody said anything so I decided to due the honors, "what? I had to do something, the damn thing tried to eat us, you should feel proud for my level of restraint on this matter" I said crossing my arms, green dust floating towards the sandy covered earth from my discarded brand.

I took the time to survey the area, and holy shit, Those buildings look like they haven't been touched by human hands since the 1900's and were those cars? Where the hell were we? Oh wait, Gila Claw, Arizona son of a bitch why?

"You said that Pan sent that thing, right?" I asked and Grover nodded still staring off after the Demon Pig.

I sighed "I really hate Greek gods right now" I muttered, looking out at the sun as it set I shook my head.

Alfred was not going dumpster diving in the middle of the night, Grover sniffed the air a couple of times and looked around confused.

"Lamb Chop, acorn me" I said and he looked at me as if I had struck him.

"Is that my name now?" he groaned and I chuckled my affirmation.

"How did that happen?" Thalia chuckled in disbelief and I grinned.

"I threatened to turn him into Lamb Chops after I turned his gift into bacon if it harmed you" I said, she shook her head.

"how heroic" she said sarcasm dripping from her voice but the smile never left her lips, lovely.

"I try" I said with a light bow.

Grover gave his consensus after reading the random acorn formation on the desert floor, I nodded after receiving my answer.

"So what you're saying is that whatever is out there waiting for us, either A doesn't have a scent, or B it's scent matches the surroundings?" I asked and he shrugged.

"I don't know of anything that doesn't have a scent" he said looking around, but I shook my head at the statement.

"Banshees for one, and anything of the ghostly caliber really" I said with a shrug and he looked at me eyes wide and fearful, was he really scared of ghosts?

"How do we fight those?" he asked but Thalia beat me to the punch.

"Ghost Busters" she answered with a grin, I wrapped my arm around her.

"I was going to say that" I said with a pout but she just dug her shoulder into my side lightly.

"Maybe you should be quicker on the draw" she said cheekily and I laughed before looking back and Grover, as he looked at me scared.

I shrugged because those weren't one of the monsters that I fought during training, mainly because you can't really, without magic that can affect the damned.

"Unless Bianca here can will it to fuck off back to Hel or Hades, you can't" I stated and he moaned in despair.

"So, if it's not that then the only other option is that it's a giant rusty robot, and in that case, I'm going to smack the Protean Coin on its forehead and claim it" I said with a wide grin, honestly the idea made me want to go into the junkyard now.

Thalia smacked my arm bringing me back from dreams of lasers and walking missile platforms, I looked down at her as she looked at me like I was completely retarded.

"What?" I asked as she shook her head.

"First off, would that even work?" she asked and I thought about it.

The Protean coin came from the most powerful forger in the nine realms, so I have no doubt that it could turn anything that uses machinery to function into my obedient slave.

"Yep" I said with a nod, her eyes went wide and she shook her head.

"No, you will not get your hands on a giant robot" she said and I frowned, that was rude.

"Why?" I asked but she just shook her head again with an accompanying sigh.

"I don't even want to think about what you and Loki would do with a giant robot" she said with a shudder.

I thought about that as well, then laughed "it would be horrific" I said with a nod, she rolled her eyes and looked at me expectantly.

"Yes dear?" I asked and she sighed once again, I notice I have the odd ability to do that to her, a power that I shall exploit thoroughly.

"Well what do we do now "leader" go in or stay the night?" she asked and everyone looked at me, well shit, possible giant robot aside there was really no point in going in.

"We stay for the night, actually if I know my dad then he should have something for this" I muttered looking around.

Then the harrowing thought reached my mind, I left the suitcase, I left the damn suitcase somewhere between the trains, how could I be so stup- oh wait there it is. I looked down to my left to see the black suitcase just sitting there completely pristine, there was a note attached to the handle though, I grabbed it and immediately recognized my father's intricate scrawl that he likes to call hand writing.

 _"Dear Alfred, if you're reading this then you inevitably forgot the suitcase somewhere along the line of your first quest, good job! It's a good thing your father is such a genius because he lined the case with tracking and teleportation runes, have fun!"_

I crushed the note before anyone else could read it and know my inner embarrassment, I shook my head and popped the case open, only to look deep into a dark abyss that didn't seem to end, what the hell did he do to this thing? There was another note on the inside of the case, I grabbed it and read.

 _"Just call whatever you need"_ it stated.

Well that would be way too convenient, wouldn't it? Might as well try I guess.

"Plasma screen T.V." I stated with no small amount of sarcasm.

Only to reel back as a large black object popped out of the suitcase that elongated for its larger size, it fell on me and I fell back onto the sand staring at the thing in complete object shock, because I mean what in the hel? Pushing it off me I placed it on the ground screen up, only for it to flair to life and I saw none other than my father on the screen sitting in a large green arm chair.

"Hello son, if you're hearing this then you decided to test the contents of the suitcase with something sarcastic, well jokes on you as usual because that was no joke" he said with a chuckle, I just stared, hell everyone just stared at the image on the screen in complete shock, leave it to my father.

"Well sadly you are correct, there are some limits on what the case can pull out, so keep it reasonable and no before you try it will not eject a giant robot, it might bite you if you try because I think I made the blasted thing sentient…Questions for later. Anyway, have fun on your quest and all that, and remember come back alive." He said but before the image shut off I heard a very distinct crashing sound, followed by an ear splitting roar, then more crashing.

Father looked very confused which is not something you see everyday before popping out, the crashing stopped and silence reigned for but a moment.

"How in the nine realms did you manage that!?" fathers voice rang out, more silence followed before the roaring began again.

"Shut up you!" he shouted before an explosion rang out that shook the mansion and silence greeted us once again, I looked at Thalia who just stared wide eyed a the screen next to me.

Then Nico's face appeared far too close to the screen, he was dirty and sweating, more than likely going through the physical training my father planned for him.

"Hey Al! uncle Loki is teaching me how to fight monsters! It's so cool, I wish you could be here to see, and Thalia too! Hurry up and come back, oh hey guess what? I can summon skeletons isn't that awesome!? I just summoned a Skeleton Dragon! It was roaring and breathing green flames! And-" he was cut off as fathers hand appeared pushing his face away from the screen.

"Sorry about that, he's been especially energetic since he gained some of his father's powers, Nico go wash yourself child you smell horrible" he chided before the image cut off and the T.V. was sucked back into the suitcase leaving me and a group of very confused demi-gods behind.

So I did the only thing I could at that moment, I laughed very, very hard, because who did not expect something like that to happen in the life of Alfred Loki Vonstein?

 **Well we got to see what Loki and Nico have been up too while Alfred's been fighting the urge to rip out his perfectly styled hair, honestly who didn't expect a God of Tricks and a Child of Hades to get into shenanigans while the "stable" one of the group was away?**

 **Anyway Read, Review, Flame, i'll read them all take it easy**

 **Vonstein Signing out.**


	13. Thirteen, Love, Logic, and War Gods

**Disclaimer. I own nothing but my character, all rights go to Rick Riordan.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 13**

 **Love, Logic, and War Gods**

Well, when father does something he likes to go all out I guess, that suitcase is the single most useful thing to every come to my hands besides my own wit and that damn Protean coin that Thalia still refuses to return to me. I even promised to not make a giant robot with it, though I did not specify not making a smaller robot with it, however I don't think that's the reason she didn't return it but I digress, the group was now standing in the middle of three large tents courtesy of the suitcase.

I forwent beds due to the fact that it started growling at me, and while i'm not surprised that he really made the damn thing sentient, I'm not quite sure if it's going to make this quest harder, or just that much more entertaining. So now we were deciding on who bunks with who.

"Why did you ask for three tents?" Percy asked and I just looked at him wanting to ask why he cared, but it's best to just stick with the tried and true response to all questions regarding my I do things.

"Because I wanted three tents" I said with a raised brow, a silent and I always do what I want was placed in there somewhere but i'm not sure if he picked up on that bit, I know Grover didn't because he looked very confused at the moment.

"But we only need two, girls and boys" Lamb Chop said and I looked at him like he grew a second head, did they really expect me to bunk with them? No, I'm fine.

"Uh no, it'll be Bianca and Zoe, then you and Percy" I clarified so that they may stop with all of these inane questions, this also had the benefit of Thalia whipping her head around so fast that I thought she hurt herself.

"What!?" she cried and I smirked, she's just so adorable sometimes.

"Yes Thalia the final tent is ours" I said as she shook her head fervently, you would think she'd be fine with it seeing as she used me as a pillow on the way here, women are strange creatures.

"You'll sleep outside first" she said and I chuckled, she's just so cute when she's being difficult, and with that thought I threw her over my shoulder and made my way over to the tent.

"The hell are you doing! Put me down!" she shouted zapping my jaw, I think I was gaining an immunity because it was only numb for a few seconds, that or she's so flustered she can't get a correct charge.

"Goodnight" I called out to the group as they stared in shock, I stepped into the large tent, it was filled with light from the lantern in the middle that I don't remember asking for, two large sleeping bags lay side by side and I dropped her lightly on one of them.

"See we won't be sleeping together, just close" I said but she began to drag her sleeping bag to the corner...well we can't let that happen, now can we? Moving quickly, I scooped her up from behind.

"Put me down Alfred!" she yelled wiggling around which only made me laugh as I fell back on my sleeping bag her back to my front.

"You are making this very difficult Thalia" I said snidely laying my chin atop her surprisingly soft hair.

"I think you're being difficult" she muttered crossing her arms.

"You were perfectly fine with using me as a sleeping space on the demon boar" I reminded her, a spark fired off one of her locks and I laughed.

"Didn't have much of a choice, but don't think I wasn't deciding whether or not to take us both off the thing" she said putting up a small struggle, but my grip was ironclad.

"Aw but you seemed so comfortable" I said with a pout, because it's okay for men to pout when dealing with electric demi-goddesses, she sighed heavily signaling my growing advantage in the situation.

"I do have to admit, your pillow skills are top notch" she said cheekily as I swayed us back and forth, she's just so endearing it's hard to keep my hands off her, like a hedgehog all sharp spines but soft underbelly, not to mention adorable.

"So, I'm the strongest demi-god you've ever met, and I'm cuddly? What more could you ask for in a man?" I asked squeezing her, she laughed then.

"Whoa there big guy, careful or your ego will become too much for your legs to support" she said finally leaning back into me.

"Would you honestly like me if I was less sure of myself, like Percy per chance? Or Grover?" I asked and I felt the shudder.

"No, probably not, especially with your skill" she said before groaning at her own words.

"Are you fishing for compliments now?" she asked and I laughed.

"No, but you're definitely handy with them" I said, she punched my arm but from her position it wasn't very effective.

"Did I ever tell you how much I love that feisty attitude of yours?" I asked and she scoffed.

"No but Loki has" she said and I gasped at the declaration.

"My father shall not have you" I said resolutely, he can beat me in many things, but he will not have her teenage crush phase, that belongs to me.

"Hmm I don't know, he is pretty dreamy" she said with a soft sigh...absolutely not.

"You little" I growled before pulling my arms back to dig my fingers into her sides, she shrieked and immediately tried to escape, or at least that's what I thought but just a few moments later she had me on my back as she sat on my stomach.

I was honestly surprised she managed to do that, taking advantage of an opportunity like that was genius, even more so if she planned for that opportunity...

"You little minx, you did that on purpose" I said with widened eyes. Her eyes glittered in the light as she stared down at me with a cheeky grin, I huffed.

"I see your game, you wish to take advantage of my innocence!" I said in fake shock.

"Oh no, you found me out" she said dryly before bursting out in laughter, I grabbed her and hugged her too me, this was good I liked this much better than her mild depression earlier, I sighed as she finally stopped laughing and all was quiet before I told her what was on my mind since the train incident.

"I don't mind it" I said softly staring up at the tents ceiling as the light and shadows danced together hypnotically.

"Don't mind what?" she asked just as quiet, I had a feeling she knew what I was talking about but didn't want to jump to conclusions, so i'll be the gentleman and tell her.

"If you still love him" I said glancing down as she stiffened, yep she knew.

"Because I'm the one currently holding you, and I plan on being that one for a long, long time" I said resolutely as she relaxed on my chest.

"You're an idiot" she said not unkindly.

"Would you like me otherwise?" I asked and she shook her head.

"Nope" she said softly before I sat us up, yay teen melodrama time is over!

"Well now that that's out of the way, let's go see what the others are up too" I said.

They were sitting around a campfire, gazing up at the stars above unclouded by the light population that comes with large cities and bustling areas that comprise the majority of the world now a day.

"That's a lot of stars" Thalia said idly and I chuckled.

"They're not even really stars, they're just figments of stars, the leftover light that is taking eternities to actually reach our eyes, what we're seeing is the last spark of life they had in them…it's rather sad when you think about it, each one wanting to be remembered" I said softly.

I glanced over to see Thalia staring at me, hell everyone was staring at me, I looked at each of them in turn.

"What?" I asked and Percy shook his head.

"Man that's dark" he said and everyone nodded in agreeance...wait that's not a real word right? Then why do people use it? Nope I don't care.

"Does thou not know? The stars are figments of great heroes, created by the Gods" Zoe said and I looked at her oddly.

"The gods, probably rearranged the stars, but never created them, my father has told me exactly that. It's only the humans who say that they did so, otherwise no the stars have been here long before any of us, any of the gods even." I said shaking my head, she took on a contemplative look before shifting her gaze back to the stars.

"For something so sad, they're still beautiful, I've never seen the milky way before" Bianca said in awe.

"In the old days, there were more, but human population-" She cut herself off, as I had just explained the actual reason for stars disappearing so she turned to me.

"I shall have to look into thou's claim, for now I shall stick to my facts" she said resolutely, well at least she wasn't outright calling me a liar.

"You talk like you're not human" Percy said and I chuckled at the statement.

"Technically none of us are" I said.

"I'm human" he said slightly outraged and I rose an eyebrow.

"If you went to an actual hospital, they would whisk you away to a government facility so quick your head would spin" I said with a chuckle, he seemed a bit perturbed so I continued.

"You can block bullets with a sword, you can control water I'm assuming, and your physical attributes are far higher than most adults let alone teenagers" I said with a shrug.

"Thou art rather intelligent, for a man" Zoe said incredulously, I looked at her, then at Thalia.

"Looks like you're not the only one giving me compliments today" I said with a grin, she groaned and Zoe rolled her eyes, huh…they really were a lot alike.

"Anyway, Zoe, you need to update your dictionary, it's you not thou" Thalia said, Zoe looked at her oddly.

"And what of thee?" she asked causing Thalia to groan, dropping down to the desert floor roughly.

"There is no thee, there is no thou only you" she explained.

"But you said you in the beginning of the sentence" Zoe retorted getting visibly annoyed.

"That's how you use it!" Thalia shouted getting equally frustrated.

"I hate this language, it changes too often!" Zoe said throwing her hands up and turning away, I was currently trying to keep myself up as the laughter in my gut took all the air from me, Grover looked rather sad.

"If only pan were here, he'd do something about the light pollution" he said, and I straightened.

"Like what? Ask nicely? Humans have been debating the consequences of pollution for a long while now there Grover, nothing's been done, well at least nothing quickly. If you want a god to do anything, it would more than likely lead to a lot of people dead, you know? The whole nature fighting back thing people use in movies now a days" I said plopping down next to Thalia.

"He wouldn't do that!" Grover said aghast, I shook my head.

"What would you do if some tiny creatures came in, and torn down your home and the home of your children and friends like they owned the place? Gods can be spiteful, so I don't want to say it but, I think it's a good thing that he's not here to see it, or be in a position to do anything about it at least, lest we see the bodies pile-up" I said with a shrug.

Grover shot up from his seated position and glared hard, ohoho he's mad, well this should be interesting.

"Are you saying it's good that he's gone!?" he shouted at me, eyes gaining a slight glow in the darkness, I stayed calm, because whatever he could do from what I've seen, it would be far from enough to hurt me.

"Are you asking if I think it's good a god of nature isn't here to see nature slowly dwindle and die? Yes" I said.

"He could keep it from dying!" he roared, damn man, there might be things out here that want to kill us and he goes around yelling like a man dying.

"But at what cost?" I asked, he stared me down breathing heavily causing me to sigh.

"look Grover, I understand what you're going through, Pan, this god is like a father to you, Odin only knows what I would do if father disappeared and I had no idea if he was dead or held captive somewhere" I said.

"However, if you asked me what I would do if I saw him ripping the world asunder, destroying all that stood in his way to return a world that's gone, I would tell you that I may end up being one of the people he destroys because I wouldn't let it happen" I said glaring at him as he breathed heavily.

"I'm not some hero no, but this is the world my mother was born in, this is the world she died in giving me life, so I would rather fight the father that I love, than see the world my mother loved destroyed, and I can for damn sure say the same thing for Pan, even more so because I don't know him, I don't love him, and he's not my god" I said lowly.

Grover backed down in the middle of my tirade before he was finally looking away from me, damn satyr got me worked up, I hated blind faith, I hate ignorance for the world around us, I hope Grover didn't become something that I hated as well, a blind ignorant follower.

It was silent as Grover finally decided to sit back down, Thalia was looking at me with an unreadable expression as Percy comforted Grover, I felt her heat as she leaned into me.

"Did you really have to do that?" she asked and I sighed, because yes I did need too.

"I didn't want too, but he had to understand exactly what he was asking for, I may not be right and Pan will have some other way to fix the forests going down but, it's still a possibility, one that I don't wish to take a chance on if there are any other options" I said, I felt her nod against my shoulder.

"Not like I actually care or anything but, are we really not human?" she asked, I chuckled.

"Well you can shoot lightning from your fingers, what do you think?" I asked, and she snorted

"Dumb question" she said shaking her head, anyway back on topic we needed a plan.

"Anyone know where the nearest city is?" I asked the group and Zoe nodded.

"Yes, after we pass this junkyard, if we hitchhike on a road we can make our way to Las Vegas I believe" she said, I nodded but Bianca shook her head.

"No not there!" she said and I rose an eyebrow, she was freaking out...why was she freaking out? There should be no reason for a freak out right now.

"Huh?" I asked she then took a deep breath, and explained how Nico and her traveled for a while made it there and then she couldn't remember what happened afterward.

"Ruphies?" I asked looking at her, she seemed really confused at that question which made me wonder about how much these guys actually knew of the mortal world now a days.

"What? I don't know" she said shaking her head, I shrugged.

"Bianca, was that hotel you stayed at called the Lotus Casino?" Percy asked gaining a cautious look, Oh, whatever that place is, it's probably going to be very entertaining to hear about it.

"Now Percy, gambling is bad" I said sagely and he gave me a light glare causing me to chuckle.

"What is the Lotus Casino?" Thalia asked and I shook my head, never been to Vegas, Percy then explained what goes down in that Casino, time is different there and some odd spell makes it so that you never want to leave, a couple hours turned into five days…Oh, uh oh.

"How long did you stay there?" I asked but she shook her head.

"A few months I think? Maybe longer" she said, my eyebrows got lost in my hairline somewhere.

"Damn, and you said D.C. was different" I confirmed and she nodded.

"What was the last war?" I asked quickly and she gained a thoughtful expression before answering.

"World War II" she confirmed and my jaw dropped.

"WWII, the war we had…around forty maybe fifty years ago?" I asked and her eyes widened, hot damn, girl outta time here.

"I knew I was getting odd vibes from Nico, he seemed older but…well shit my little cousin is older than me" I said shaking my head. \

"Tha-that's not possible" Bianca stuttered looking frantic, I shook my head.

"Oh it's possible, you'd be surprised what gods and monsters can do with time, whoever controls it really needs to get their shit together" I said shaking my head.

I glanced down at Thalia as she had yet to give any input but she was gazing at Bianca with sad eyes, I noticed Percy looking at Thalia with sympathy but that didn't make any sense unless. Did Thalia go through something similar? Does it have something to do with why she won't tell me how she got to Camp Half-Blood? Questions for later I guess, that's going to irritate me to no end, I need to keep a list or something.

It was then that my vision was temporarily blinded by the obnoxiously bright headlights of a car coming our way, my eyebrow rose as it came to a slow crawl near us and I saw the long and sleek white limousine park. The back door opened in front of Percy and before I knew it a sword was placed at his throat, a large man sporting a crew cut stepped out forcing Percy back as Bianca and Zoe trained their bows on the large individual.

Black jeans, black leather coat, white shirt, combat boots and black shades wrapped tight around this man's large frame as he smirked at Percy but didn't have time to do much else as my chains had already pulled Percy back on his ass and pulled the loosely held sword from the man's bear hand. I caught the blade easily and twirled it around my body rather lazily, I was never a fan of swords when father was training me, but that didn't mean I was a slouch when it came to showing off with them either. I watched as the man slowly turned to me, a red light began burning behind those glasses, the feeling of pure adrenaline wafted from his being and I sighed before speaking.

"Who in the Hel are you? And why are you pointing a sword at my responsibility? That's quite rude you know?" I asked tossing the blade behind me to clatter on the desert floor, he frowned hard as Percy stood again.

"Ares" he growled at the large man and I sighed, really? Is the entire Pantheon going to show up on this quest? Will Zeus come down next to ask me what i'm doing with his daughter? Oh the fun I would have with that one would know no end.

"Fucking Greeks" I muttered before returning my gaze to the man who only had eyes for me at the moment.

"Who do you think you're talking to like that boy?" he asked and I shrugged, never let them see you sweat.

"Apparently, Ares Greek god of war, not really a strong title because where I come from, all gods are gods of war" I said with a smirk, the sword reappeared in his hand as he growled heavily but I held up a finger.

"Ah, touched a nerve, did I? Well I'm sure your leader already told you about Loki and his son, right? I'm sure a warning was placed in there somewhere as well" I said but he just smirked, well shit.

"Like I care, I live for war boy, so what's stopping me from killing you now and enjoying the fight that's to come later?" he asked and I thought about that, now I'm confident in my abilities…but killing a god is still a bit above me, holding him off until father comes, now that's another story entirely.

"You could kill me, it probably wouldn't be very fast though which would allow father to come and end you horribly and painfully therefore depriving you of any fun you would have with a god war" I said lightly, he tensed losing the smile.

"Not to mention that, when it comes to killing gods, who better than the one that killed all of the other ones in his pantheon?" I asked, check.

A good old-fashioned stare down ensued, he was confident he could kill me to start a war, and I was confident that my father would kill him long before he got to enjoy the war, he was at a disadvantage on either side. He knew this, and that's why his sword disappeared as he looked away first.

And there's mate people, so let it be known that _"mind games are the best games there are"_ and you can quote me on that.

He looked at Percy then to the rest of us, what was he going to do now that I've mentally beat him in front of a group of demi-gods?

"Alright at ease people" he said easily snapping his fingers, weapons clattered to the floor with new invisible weight, ooh a show of power to make sure no one else gets any ideas to challenge him.

Nice move, though the effects were dulled when my weapons stayed easily in my hands, he seemed a bit irked by that but made no move to address it, good boy.

"This is a friendly meeting sadly, no matter how much I would like to take your head" he said glaring at Percy, who glared weakly back.

"And kill you" he said glancing at me but I smiled wider, before he dug the point of his sword into the sand.

"There is someone here who wants to meet you, and I never behead my enemies in front of a lady" he said looking back to Percy, I rose an eyebrow, there was someone else in the car I believe, because while that did sound somewhat noble, I don't think he sees any female in our group as a "lady".

"What lady?" Thalia asked stepping up next to me, oh look she caught on too, just another reason to like her like I do, he seemed to lock onto her presence immediately gaining a grin that had me tightening my grip on the daggers, I was ready to slice if he made a move I didn't like consequences be damned.

"Well, well, I heard you were back" he said easily tilting his head a bit to appraise her, back? Well that just confirms it, she's also a girl out of time...but if she didn't know about the hotel, I have to wonder what caused her situation.

"Thalia, daughter of Zeus, you're not hanging out with very good company" he said with a slight sneer in my direction one that I answered with a grin, Thalia ignored the jab admirably and motioned at the limo.

"What is your business Ares? Who's in the car?" she asked, but Ares simply smiled the bastard was enjoying the attention.

"Oh, I doubt she wants to meet the rest of you, particularly not them" he said jutting his chin toward Zoe and Bianca, I glanced over at them and shook my head.

"I think it would be easier to name off the people that don't hate The Hunters from what I've seen" I said, Zoe glared but relented after a bit with a huff while Ares just ignored the interruption.

"Why don't you all go get some tacos while you wait? Only take Percy a few minutes." He suggested, but Zoe shook her head.

"We will not leave him alone with thee, Lord Ares" Zoe said, she really wasn't getting this language update.

"It's you, Zoe, _you_ " I urged and she groaned.

"Fine, we will not leave him alone with _you_ , Lord Ares" she repeated glaring at me, I shot her a thumbs up and smiled, good girl.

"Besides, the taco place is closed" Grover piped up with unnecessary information, I shook my head as Ares snapped his fingers once again before looking to Grover.

"What kind of useless excuse was that? He's a god" I sighed, he gave me a sheepish grin before realizing he was angry at me and turning away, Percy looked at us and tried to give a confident smile, tried being the operative word here.

"Go on guys, I've got this" he said and Ares grinned.

"You heard the boy, he's big and strong, he's got things under control" he said, and everyone began to make their way towards the taco shop albeit reluctantly, Ares frowned hard when he saw that I didn't move, I crossed my arms and shrugged.

"I'm not letting him meet this "lady" of yours without me, so go ahead and ask her if that's fine" I said with a smile, there he went with that glowing eye trick again, I wonder if father knows how to do that.

He slowly turned back to the open door and got in, it took a few moments and I took the time to smile at Percy to try and calm him down.

"Don't worry if he tries to take your head, I'll just piss him off and he'll come for me instead, as you can see I'm already making leeway in that area" I said with a shrug.

Percy chuckled and shook his head, but he relaxed a bit so that meant mission accomplished, I didn't need him being tense and saying something stupid to get us killed, Ares reemerged and motioned for us to enter the limo, Percy skirted around him while I almost bumped his shoulder, just to get my lack of fear of him through his thick skull.

"Mind your manners, she's not as forgiving of rudeness as I am" he growled.

Well...shit she was hot, I had to blink a couple of times in order to break from whatever stupor she put me in, luckily I was shielded from most of it due to the many magical shields me and father placed upon my being, otherwise I would have been like Percy. Now that I think about it, I can't tell you what she looked like for the life of me, whenever I try and think of it an image of an older Thalia pops into mind, odd really but seeing who she was this was not at all surprising. She smiled at us and nodded to Percy.

"Ah, there you are Percy, I'm Aphrodite" she said and Percy said something along the lines of complete and total gibberish and I fought hard not to outright laugh at him, I couldn't hold back the surprised snort however.

"Aren't you sweet, hold this please" she said handing him a mirror, I rose an eyebrow before she finally locked eyes with me.

"And you must be Alfred, I've been very interested in meeting you" she said sending a charming smile my way, I rose an eyebrow and gave her a blank stare, which was a lot harder than you think because of the fact that I was fighting to not giggle stupidly and look away.

"What do you need Aphrodite?" I asked curtly because I had a bad feeling about this meeting, the goddess of love just so happens to pop up while I'm already dealing with Thalia and this Luke shit? Hel no, I don't need this problem.

"So cold, and to think I'm actually rooting for you" she said with a pout, my other eyebrow joined the first as I stared at her.

"Rooting for me? For what? Thalia?" I asked and she nodded before beginning to dab at her already flawlessly applied lipstick.

"Do you both know why you're here?" she asked, Percy seemed to still be in la la land when it came to the beautiful goddess so I just answered for him.

"I'm going to assume that it has something to do with our love lives, and possibly something that's going to be really irritating that I don't wish to deal with" I said with a sigh, her eyes widened just a tad before she smiled.

"Wow, the rumors are true, you really are a smart one" she said with a giggle that sounded like many birds singing in rapture, I shook my head to shake off the soothing effect it had on my mind, gotta stay sharp when dealing with gods and goddesses, especially since everyone that I've met so far has only made this quest harder through their "helping".

"Why are you on this quest?" she asked and I shrugged, no need to try and lie on that one.

"One-part goddess in trouble, one-part prophecy, and last part Thalia" I said, she nodded approvingly, guess it's good I didn't lie.

"A man that knows what he wants, how lovely" she said batting her eyelashes, was, was she flirting with me?

"And you Percy? What are you here for?" she asked, he finally managed to answer but it was still strained.

"Artemis is in trouble" he said and she tutted.

"Are you sure?" she asked and he nodded making her sigh.

"There's no need to lie Percy, I know she asked you too" she said tiredly before messing with her mascara, this goddess was definitely vain when it came to looks.

"Annabeth asked you to come?" I asked and he nodded slightly, well shit, I thought she was smarter than that to try and mess with a prophecy, gonna have to tell her why she's an idiot when I get back.

"And do you know why?" Aphrodite asked and he frowned.

"I have some idea" he said lowly.

"Of course you do! She wants to join The Hunters, but she can't do that if Artemis is lost, well she can stay lost for all I care" she said with a huff.

"Why does this interest you?" Percy asked and I sighed, people need to keep up and start using deductive reasoning.

"Because every hunter Artemis claims, is another love life lost, the mere existence of them is a spit in the face to this goddess of love" I explained and she nodded.

"What is life without love? A meager existence that drags on and on, mortals can already be pathetic enough but without love in their lives they are truly worthless" she said shaking her head, I shrugged because I'm sure every god thinks that way so I'd be hard pressed to fault her for the way she thinks.

"But Percy! You can save her from that fate, you could show her what she'll be missing if she joins, oh! It'll be so romantic" she said with a soft sigh, I chuckled at the look on Percy's face, as well as the red creeping up his ears.

"Oh, put the mirror down dear, I look fine" she said.

Then the extreme embarrassment came, she explained how she was going to play out Percy's love story, how it shall be tragic and beautiful and I fought very hard not to laugh. As the seconds went by it got harder and harder until finally I was biting the inside of my cheek until that familiar copper tang touched my tongue, as Percy tried in vain to keep her from interfering with his love life.

Then she looked at me, and I sobered quickly, because somehow I knew that what she was about to say was going to be rather heavy, she didn't look like that bubbly vain goddess that I saw messing with Percy moments ago, oh no she looked like the bringer of grim news. She gazed at me with genuine pity before speaking, my heart clenched without my control and I just stared into her eyes as she started speaking.

"Alfred, I sadly don't have any control over your particular love life…but I have some over Thalia's and I'm sorry but, by the end of this quest you're going to lose something, no matter what outcome I see, it ends the same, there will be tragedy waiting for you at the end of this and not the good kind" she said softly.

I stared at her, I wanted to wave off her warning, shrug off her concern, ignore that look of pity in her eyes, but for some reason…the trace amounts of fear that lied at the bottom of my mind began to slowly rise. Something bad was definitely going to happen, and…I don't think there's anything I can do to stop it, and coming from me, that's when you really know shit's going to hit the fan hard, and no one is going to come out unscathed…fuck me sideways.

 **Chapter End**

 **Shit's getting hectic over here, but based off my memory of this book we should be more than halfway finished, so i'll try and work harder to get these chapters up. I already have the ending cemented so it shouldn't be too hard to put it to words.**

 **Anyway, Read, Flame, Review, it's all love to me take it easy.**

 **Vonstein Signing Out.**


	14. Fourteen, Junkyards, and Souvenirs

**Disclaimer. I own nothing but my character, all rights go to Rick Riordan.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 14**

 **Junkyards, and Souveniers**

Numb…would be the correct feeling I was feeling at that moment, when Ares threatened us all I could do was stare blankly at him until he felt uncomfortable enough to ask Percy what was wrong with me. He merely glared at the war god before Ares ultimately shrugged and lifted his hand in a rather familiar motion, oh shit, he was going to snap again.

My world spun on its axis a few times as red dust filled my vision until I fell to my knees shaking off the vertigo. With a quick glance around I saw everyone else looking around as well, the road, taco shop, my tents all of it gone only to be replaced by mountains of scrap metal and other random bits of things you would find in a junkyard.

Great, Greeks strike again and ruin my plans of taking a rest, I want to break something for anger is a Hel of a lot easier to deal with than hopelessness and despair. Getting to my feet I stared at Thalia as she looked about confused before her eyes met mine.

"You alright?" she asked concern taking over her eyes and lacing her voice, I thought about telling her but then the idea of spilling all of my new dark fears in front of the rest of the group became unappealing to me.

So, I went with the easier option, tell her another truth that I'm feeling at the moment.

"The longer I hang around you people, the more I end up hating the Greek Pantheon…Is this on purpose?" I asked and she stared at me for a few more moments, I was scared that she saw through my little misdirection but my fears were waylaid when she scoffed.

"I wouldn't know, I haven't been doing this for long enough to find out" she said with a wry grin and I nodded, another piece of information to file away, I'll figure out what happened to Thalia sooner or later, whether she deems it fit to tell me or not.

"What did she want with you guys?" Bianca asked as we all came together from our individual mini recon.

"Not exactly sure, although she did leave us with a small warning" I said making sure Percy didn't say anything that would tip Thalia off on what was actually discussed in that Limo.

"She told us to be careful in her husband's junkyard, and to pick nothing up which actually opposes my original idea of touching everything just to see what would happen sadly" I said with a slight huff, I wasn't lying, I really was planning on touching everything just to see what I could piss off, however that little premonition shook me up pretty bad because all I want is for this quest to be over.

Thalia punched me in the shoulder shaking her head effectively knocking me out of my little thought bubble, Zoe however had something to say.

"The Goddess of Love would not make a special trip just to tell th-" she started but I grinned causing her to scowl and mutter something under her breath before continuing. " _You_ that, be careful as she has led many Heroes astray" she finished sending a glare my way which I returned with an especially cheeky smirk just for her, she's so lucky sometimes.

"For once I agree with Zoe, you shouldn't trust anything she says" Thalia said and I shrugged, time to remind them who my parent is I guess.

"My father is the god of tricks, and if I can spot lies on him, I'm sure any other god would be cake" I said, this was me gloating and accepting the fact that Aphrodite wasn't lying when she warned me of what's to come, something will be lost, and I just hope that it wasn't Thalia.

"So how do we get out of here?" Percy asked, and Zoe pointed west.

"We go that way, that way is west" she said and Percy had this really confused look on his face, I would have laughed but it was really rather disappointing that he couldn't read stars, kind of odd for a Greek I would say because they were obsessed with stars, random thought... I found it rather eerie how well I could make out their facial features in the night.

"Ursa Major is that way, and it is to the north, so west would logically be that way" I clarified pointing out the constellation of the bear.

He nodded, this action seemed to save Zoe some annoyance as she sent a grateful glance my way, so with that we continued west as the mountains of scrap and other useless items grew larger and almost seemed to loom over us. It was disconcerting and I wouldn't be lying if I said that I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible before we were attacked by giant junk creatures or something.

"Guys, look!" Grover shouted rushing over to one of the pile, are you kidding me? Why would you mess with anything in a Gods junkyard? Suicidal all of them, I observed the large pile that he ran towards and was rather surprised to see modern items litter the mass of scrap, cars, refrigerators and a whole lot of weaponry, gold and silver winked at us in the moonlight, and Grover just bit off a piece of a crown, holy fuck why?

"Spit it out!" I yelled, my voice echoing across the junkyard, he was quick to relieve himself of the golden piece quickly as it plopped into the sand.

"Are you insane?" I asked stomping over to him, "why would you put some random object in your mouth after what happened earlier?" I questioned getting in his face as he backed away.

"Look!" Bianca shouted rushing down the hill barely staying upright as she slipped on coils and other pieces of metal, oh Hel not her too, I turned to look as she picked up a bow that shrunk down into what looked to be a hairpin.

"Drop it!" I yelled hopping down after her.

"But-" she started but I shook my head, what was I dealing with children?

"Bad things happen when you touch a god's things, junk or not." I said grabbing it lightly and tossing very far, this statement is true...unless you're me then you can touch anything you want and it would probably work out, I heard a faint ding as it bounced off some other item and I shook my head as the group came together again wondering just why, why did this prophecy bring me on this quest to babysit?

The exit of this thrice damned junkyard was in my sight, this took way longer than it should have due to everyone touching at least one thing, excluding me however I would be lying if I said I wasn't tempted. Some of these things were very interesting, but due to the fact that my father gave me a suitcase that can bring out just about anything I could possibly need, I highly doubt there's something in here I need that it can't give me.

There was a highway, just beyond the exit too, I could see the lights splitting the darkness of the desert like a beacon of hope, though that bad feeling was back so I stayed on my toes...

Just what in the hell is that?

A massive metallic hill sat in front of us, it was too dark to make it out exactly but it seemed to be the size of a football field with the height of the goal posts, yep avoid at all costs because it looks like.

"Toes" Grover said, yep, no not this time, avoid at all costs.

"Around it, right now, as in run" I said slowly moving to give the toes a wide berth.

"Around it sounds good" Thalia said with a nod.

"What why? The roads right there, let's just climb over it" Percy protested but I shook my head making sure to keep my eyes on the massive foot in front of us trying to see any signs of life.

Now...I saw the random object flying through the air, but it didn't actually register until it bounced off the toes with a loud pinging noise, all went quiet for a second before I turned to look at Grover, he gave me a wide-eyed stare before shrugging.

"I don't like fake feet" he said sheepishly, he doesn't like fake feet...that's the best he could do?

I nodded before a clone materialized behind him and knocked him out with the butt of his knife, hefting the unconscious Satyr on his shoulder the clone nodded back at me.

"Why did you do that?" Bianca nearly shouted as Percy glared at me but I shrugged.

"I don't like stupid decisions" I said before motioning the group to follow.

Thalia was trying very hard not to laugh, and I even saw Zoe crack a grin as Bianca and Percy kept looking back to see if the goat boy was okay, he was merely unconscious so I don't know why they were so upset. It was only a few more minutes of walking before we hit the empty highway, the black asphalt stretched on through the darkness seeming to have no end, but honestly it beat the junkyard in terms of safety in my eyes.

"We made it out, thank the gods" Zoe said and my eyes widened.

"Why would you bring them back into this?!" I shouted before an extremely loud sound filled the area, as if a million cogs had started up all at once.

Terrible feeling was now back, with a vengeance and I glared hard at Zoe before turning, only to see the large metal hill ripple and shake as an impossibly large creation rose to a seated position. It was definitely Greek if the armor had anything to say about it, and my eyes widened when it finally got to its feet all one hundred feet of it, spiraling into the night sky as it glared down at us with an unreadable expression carved into the bronze workings as half of its face seemed to be melted.

"Talos!" Zoe gasped, and I groaned loudly.

"Giant fucking robot, why a giant robot? Thalia coin now! Please!" I yelled but she shot me a surprised look.

"If you think I'm going to let you have that thing as a pet you are so wrong!" she shouted back.

I think the idea of being a pet didn't sit very well with old Talos here because it drew its sword with an ear-splitting screech, I nodded once, twice, before finally turning and taking off down the highway.

"Running now!" I yelled as the group finally began to follow me.

"Who took something? Someone had to have taken something!" Zoe yelled out as Talos took its first step after the group, literally closing the distance between us by half, there was no way we were outrunning this thing, damn it all to Hel.

"When I find out who, oh you better hope this thing kills me" I growled as it swung down taking out the powerlines that sparked and sputtered around the two-hundred-ton bronze sword, that was when it jerked hard as the electricity caused its arm to spasm.

Everyone had their weapons drawn, however I highly doubt anything we have could possibly hurt that thing...but that electricity.

"Thalia, lightning and I need the big bolts dear!" I called over as it focused on me.

My clones appeared and we rushed it as it tried to get a good hit in, the ground was shaking and mighty crashes could be heard as the desert sand was cast up into the air with every swipe of its broad sword. I could hear the rumble of thunder in the sky as Thalia pointed her spear skyward, there was a flash and the largest lightning bolt I'd ever seen crashed down onto her spear, with a roar she thrust it forward and impacted the behemoth right in the chest plate as I dived away from the stray bolts that bounced off and scorched the earth beneath Talos, the smell was not the best.

I could see the bright blue electricity dance across its entire frame and the spot where the lightning impacted melted the bronze together into a jumbled mess, atta girl, the giant took two steps back then fell to its, and that was our cue to get the hell out of here while we could get some distance. Bianca and Zoe were still firing off arrows like they were going out of style however they merely shattered upon its bronze visage.

"Come on we gotta move!" I yelled coming up to them, Zoe nodded and holstered her bow and that's when it came to me…the bow.

"Bianca Di Angelo I swear on my life; did you grab that hair-clip?" I growled and she looked up at me with those wide eyes shaking her head, I grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Lying to me, is not a good plan, mainly because it is very, very hard to get away with it, now if you didn't take the hair-clip, what did you take?" I asked pulling her along and away from the still rather inactive Talos.

She pulled out a small golden figurine, of a god I didn't recognize.

"Bianca if that's supposed to be Artemis, that's some poor craftsmanship" I said but she shook her head.

"It's not for me, it's for Nico" she said quietly then it all came together, she wanted to try and apologize.

"I'm assuming he doesn't have that one" I sighed and she nodded.

"Keep it, it may be the reason we're getting chased, but I'll just have to find a way to kick the things ass instead of hoping it leaves us alone after we drop it, I don't think gods fall in the forgiving circle of things anyway" I growled as I finally heard the thing start up again.

We weren't nearly as far from it as I had wanted as it immediately set about closing the distance, it was then that I spotted it, the bottom of its right foot, a hole that was strategically placed so something smaller could get inside for "maintenance purposes only" now I wouldn't call myself a mechanic…but deconstruction has always been a fine pass time for me.

I grabbed Bianca and pulled her until we were closer to the group, but our dear Talos seemed to realize my plan of regrouping as it swung down its massive broadsword right in front of us stopping that plan dead, I cursed loudly before backing up.

"Bianca, I have a plan and it involves something completely stupid and dangerous, normally I wouldn't tell you but Thalia has been on my ass about sharing plans and not being so greedy for renown or whatever" I spouted quickly.

"There's a service entrance on the bottom of its right foot, if we distract it enough I can get under there and fuck with it from the inside" I said quickly as it turned to face us fully, Grover tried in vain to get its attention before playing a really loud tune on his reed pipes. The downed power lines came too life, waving and dancing in the air slowly like a king cobra ready to strike at any moment.

"Aim for the back of the right knee!" I roared across the dark desert before rushing the monstrosity hoping he heard me. That's when things decided to go to shit, why? Oh why did she have to do that?

Those were the thoughts that ran through my mind when I felt the tip of an arrow slam into the back of both knees, they were protected so it didn't hurt, but damn it tripped me. As I saw Bianca run past me, running for all she was worth as she looked back and I knew that she believed she had to do it, I saw the guilt in her eyes, and the resolution stupid, stupid, stupid.

"STUPID!" I roared coming to my feet quickly, I had never ran so fast in my life but it wasn't fast enough, the power line struck the right knee like I told him, but it wasn't enough. The giant buckled but didn't drop like I had hoped only beginning to turn towards the annoying Satyr that hit it, my eyes roamed wildly as I ran taking everything in, I saw that Thalia was still extremely winded from the giant bolt of lightning she struck it with earlier. The words of that damned prophecy boomed through my head, one may be **lost** in the land without rain, land **without** **rain** , **lost** , but I kept my mind focused hard on the most important part of that verse, **MAY….**

I refuse, I refuse to allow this to happen.

"STOP!" I roared as the giant turned, but Bianca was running too fast, her eyes were on the prize and she wasn't paying attention to anything else.

So, when the behemoth turned to strike Grover and its heel came up and down, she was meant to be crushed swiftly and without remorse, but I was there, and I was running so much faster than I ever had before. With a mighty roar, I caught up and spawning the brightest green chain I've ever seen I wrapped it about her waist and threw her behind me so hard I heard the bone in my left shoulder pop uncomfortably.

She was safe, although I was not, and on pure instinct, instinct bred in the many battles my father had me participate those years ago. My clones appeared around me, five of them standing tall and ready to keep me alive for as long as possible, the foot slammed down and we held it aloft, the pain that ran through my body upon impact was horrendous, and I almost immediately passed out.

I held on however, the screams of the group ringing out in my head, I found it annoying but it gave me the strength to push back despite the pain. I saw the hole, and slowly made my way to it, with every minute inch pain screamed throughout my mind but I ignored it like every other instance in my life, learning to ignore it has always been easy. It is merely the bodies way to telling you that whatever situation you got yourself in is stupid, but once you tell it to shut up enough it stops caring and pain becomes a thing of the past.

Then something remarkable happened, like a cold splash of water across my face…no, deeper, under my skin, in my veins, throughout my soul, like a raging blizzard…and it gave me more strength, my eyes roved over to my clones and I saw that our skin had begun to turn blue, a dark blue and those bright green eyes our father had, bled red.

This was not the time to worry about physical changes however, we had a job to do and so with one final push my hands gave way to the hole and I fell forward, but with the relief came the loss of concentration, and with the loss of concentration came the loss of my clones.

Green dust filled my vision, and the foot came down the rest of the way, a bright white light flashed across my eyes as pain burst in my left arm but I pushed it back in favor of grabbing the ladder inside the hole and heaving myself into the behemoth. Everything was shifting, nothing sat still for more than a moment as the monster moved and continued its assault upon my group, I laid there staring up at the whirling cogs and raging pistons as they pushed and pulled to keep Talos moving.

My left arm pulsed again and again, but I couldn't move it, and it was with great reluctance that I looked down to see that it was gone. Everything from the elbow down was gone, but there was no blood, hell it didn't even look like it was torn away from pure pressure, it was sharp and cracked like ice, and I could see that the very edge was still a dark blue color.

I lost my arm, I felt my pulse quicken and my head swim but I forced it down, I had a job to do and the longer I sat here feeling sorry for my lost appendage the more time this thing had to harm somebody else, to harm Thalia. With a grunt I got to my feet and made my way up the creatures leg, it was difficult to maneuver myself around the shifting parts with only one hand but I made it through, I wonder if my clones only had one arm now? If they still had both could I shift my conscience over to one of them and regain my lost appendage?

No, now was not the time for that, everything that looked important needed to be destroyed with extreme prejudice, this thing had caused enough harm, this quest has already taken far too much from me and something needed to pay. My right hand ignited with a snap as I began dousing everything in white hot flames, my rage was peaked and I was taking it out on old Talos here. I moved on when the flames melted a hole through one side and shot out into the night sky, I moved higher and continued the process, everything was burning, the smell of burning metal was suffocating but I never lost sight of my goal and I never faltered.

I felt it shifting and moving frantically as its insides were being destroyed, I smacked into hot metal sides and rapidly moving cogs but I didn't stop, allowing the magical runes on my clothing to protect me, if only I didn't keep the sleeves rolled up all the time... No, back to work.

It was when I reached the area that I assume was the head that everything rocked at once before I slammed into the side as we tipped over, I felt my head smash up against something, maybe a melted cog? I knew only darkness from there.

Damn it why do things have to be so complicated, arm gone, no clue if I was fast enough to stop Talos from ripping everyone a new asshole, Grover's and idiot, Bianca is Bianca, Thalia likes some guy named Luke by Odins beard i'm going to kill him when I get the chance on general principle. This quest was really starting to grate on what's left of my nerves... Oh well, at least i'm unconscious now which means a much needed nap time.

No, wait...bright, way too bright, it should still be night so why do my eyes feel like going on strike? Wait there's shadow, wondrous shadows defend my eyes from that horrible light and guide me back to sleep.

"Al?" a very familiar voice called but it was rather distorted almost like I was under water, did I have a concussion?

"Al please wake up" it pleaded, but I really didn't want too, that voice however, it was really familiar…

"Al wake the fuck up! Please!" anger, oh that's Thalia, lovely lovely Thalia, but why did she sound so distressed? I'm merely taking a nap as is my right after taking out a behemoth like Talos.

I felt a weight on my chest now, damn it was she crying? For me? Now I have to wake up, thanks for the guilt trip, lifting my right arm until it wrapped around her shoulders I made a motion to sit up, but she scrambled forcing me back down and leaning over me, providing me with the perfect amount of shadow so that I may finally open my damn eyes.

Oh shit…tears, she's crying definitely crying, but why? I tried to lift my left arm to wipe the tears away but when nothing appeared in my vision, I remembered…shit and that only seemed to bring another bout of tears to her eyes.

"You fucking idiot" she gasped balling my shirt in her fists, my vision had finally cleared enough to see everyone staring with varying ranges of sadness and disgust at the stump of an arm I now sported, however I did notice that there seemed to be two of everyone at the moment, this concussion was really going to mess with things.

I don't know if it was my lack of mental function at the moment but the lack of an arm didn't affect me as much, though the complete opposite could be said for Bianca and Thalia, I could see the guilt destroying her as she took comfort in Zoe's half hug, Thalia however was a completely different story, the rage and anguish I saw in her eyes made me want to turn away, but I didn't I looked at her without fear.

"I'm not sorry" I finally said and she hit me in the chest once, twice, then they began to meld together in a miserable combination of shuddering and weak strikes.

I sighed and attempted to sit up again, succeeding this time and looked around as I held the distraught girl to my chest, the surrounding area was a mess, craters and burn marks littered the place with bronze metal pieces strewn across the ground, I could even see some places where the sand was turned into glass.

Talos was completely destroyed, I didn't think I could do that much damage but I guess it makes sense from the hazy memory, I felt completely exhausted which honestly that word barely covered how done I was. Now I don't remember what drove me to do what I did next, whether it was my exhausted mind or the idea of missing an arm on top of a concussion meddling with my ability to think correctly but I asked Thalia to hand me the Protean Coin, she looked at me like I was crazy but I guess the resolve in my eyes convinced her somewhat.

Grasping the coin I made to stand, but found that I had no energy to do so.

"Thalia dear, can you help me up?" I asked and she shook her head.

"Please, I need to get up" I urged.

"No! Shut up! You aren't moving, damn it Alfred you're missing an arm, how could you be so stupid? You promised me, you promised" she trailed off I sighed and I kissed the crown of her head.

"I tried to get over to you guys when I came up with the plan, I really did, but the damn robot wouldn't let me, I'm so sorry" I said quietly.

"What are you going to do?" she finally asked after a moment of silent contemplation.

"Well, I'm going to get my arm back" I said with a smile, her head shot up so fast that she almost smashed into my chin.

"What?! How?" she asked gripping my shirt tightly, and I shrugged.

"Protean coin" I said with a grin.

"now can you please help me up?" I asked and she stared at me hard before finally nodding, Standing was not the best idea at the moment but I was so far past caring that I just focused on looking for what I needed, there a piece of bronze, it looked like the tip of Talos's finger but it would do nicely for what I had planned.

Motioning forward Thalia began to help me towards my destination, hoping that this next part would work I closed my eyes when we reached the part before looking down, the suitcase was sitting there as if it was never missing in the first place, not a spec of sand on it. I was about to ask for a tent of some kind when the case popped open of its own accord and something shot out faster than I could see, I felt a sharp pinch in my shoulder and when I looked down I saw a syringe.

Empty now, but written on the glass was " _ **Don't Catch Feelings**_ " in what looked to be my father's hand writing, oh there went the feeling in my arm, didn't notice how much that actually hurt until it was gone, I shook my head to clear the fuzz.

"Okay that works too" I muttered before kneeling in front of the bronze piece.

My father once told me a story of a being that could create anything. A being obsessed with perfection, so obsessed that it turned everything it saw into a masterpiece, complete efficiency and beauty were the only things that it would allow in its presence. Only to realize that while it surrounded itself with perfection, that its own body was actually quite far from the word.

Controlled by its need to be perfect it transformed itself into a being that is in of itself perfect, to the point that it could turn everything around it into its idea of perfection twice as fast, with minimal effort. A god was interested in this ability, and when confronting the being, began to tear down everything that it believed in, the idea of perfection, the idea of life, the belief that it could succeed in changing the universe to its own ideal place. Then in its moment of utter despair, he took its arm and it became a coin, a coin that could change anything to the users idea of perfection, the Protean Coin and that god was quite obviously my father Loki.

So when I asked for Thalia to hand me the coin all I had to do was place it on the metal, I was just thinking of a forearm, something that will help me finish this quest. I was not expecting for bronze tendrils to shoot into the stub of my remaining arm, nor was I expecting the searing pain shooting through my chest, only for another pinch signaling another needle had shot from the suitcase.

I slumped forward just letting the metal do its job, it was odd seeing the bronze ripple and morph into whatever arm it deemed necessary for me to do my job, but when I could make out the clawed hand that's when things got interesting. Runes burned themselves into the forearm and seemed to sizzle with unreleased heat, steam rose as the new metal limb proceeded to weld itself to my skin, the smell was quite horrendous but I just shook my head and ignored it for the time being.

When it was finally over, I was looking at what seemed to belong to a beast, a wolf if anything with runes that glowed an angry red color for a few moments before dying out, bringing the arm up I realized that I had a full range of motion in the fingers. However, it felt like there was something more to the arm than what I was seeing, so I willed the air around my arm to heat up only for my new appendage to light up with an angry roar of an engine, flames shot out of the runes like exhaust and the arm grew white hot.

The sand under my claw sparked and popped, I let it die and the arm returned to normal, there was no residual heat left when I touched it experimentally.

"Wha…what did you do?" Thalia stuttered as I brought the metal arm up for the group to see.

"Fixed my arm, didn't hurt as much as I thought it would, thank you case" I said with a nod to the sentient? Suitcase.

However, I was still dealing with the large amount of fatigue, but hey at least the extra people around me disappeared, reaching over I grabbed the suitcase and just as before I popped it open and pointed at a clear area, soon a large bundle of materials shot out and formed a tent that was quite a bit larger than the others.

"Well, I guess it doesn't want to make multiple tents this time" I said gazing up at the sun peaking over the horizon, with a sigh I stood only to fall back to a knee.

"Be careful you stupid man" Zoe sighed before grabbing my new metal arm and throwing it over her shoulder.

"Hey, you said _you_ this time" I chuckled, she and Thalia rolled her eyes.

"This is not the time Al" Thalia said grabbing my other arm, they really were a lot alike huh?

We walked the short distance to the tent and I was quite surprised to see what the suitcase had hooked us up with, there were multiple bunks lining the walls with what looked like an AC unit in the middle, the room was nice and cool despite being in the desert. What was powering it though? Questions for later, I groaned when they sat me down on one of the bunks, the rest of the group were looking around at the place before choosing a bunk and taking a load off.

All except for Thalia who stood there glaring at me eyes still puffy and red from the tears and bottom lip quivering slightly as she glanced at my arm, and Bianca who looked like she wanted to speak with me but was much too afraid of the outcome to try. Which made sense seeing as her actions earlier cost me an arm, but I'm either too drugged up to care, or I've reached the point of just ignoring everything that goes wrong on this quest, because if you expect the worst, you can only be pleasantly surprised.

"Thalia dear, I know you want to yell at me some more, but it looks like Bianca really needs to talk to me" I said, she didn't respond only narrowed her eyes further.

"Please?" I asked and she growled, which was actually quite hot...but I had enough of my mental faculties to realize that telling her that would mean a very early death, or at the very least a very thorough maiming.

"Only because you actually managed to kill that thing, and I know you'll probably pass out mid rant, but I'm tearing you a new one later" she threatened.

I laughed and nodded as she stalked away to mess with something, or to rant at Percy and Grover about how irritating I am, I had that wonderful effect on people. Motioning for Bianca to come over I leaned back on the bunk, surprised at how comfy it actually was, she stared at me for a minute leaning from foot to foot.

"Alright I guess I'll start" I said with a sigh, why did they always make things difficult?

"What you did, was reckless, and stupid, and exactly what I was going to do which automatically means that probably only I can do it, however…you caused an issue so you went out of your way to try and resolve it, so I cannot in anyway blame you for the loss of my arm" I finished before leaning back fully.

My words seemed to be the crack in the dam that she needed because before I knew it I had an arm full of crying female and trying to discern what she was saying was like fucking with a game of scrabble.

"Alright, alright, calm down and make actual words please" I said, it was to no avail however as she just continued to sob in my chest, this quest was already tearing us apart, quickly and without prejudice…but there was one thing that stood prominently in my mind, that I beat the first part of the prophecy, no one died this day.

Damn I'm good...

 **Oh man, finally back from that stupid Field, Army stuff really gets in the way of writing let me tell you. I'm back however, which means the next chapter won't take half as long as this one to put up, to those that have stuck out the slight wait I thank you and hope you enjoy this latest entry.**

 **Read, Review, Flame it's all love to me.**

 **Vonstein, Signing out.**


	15. Fifteen, River Rafting, and Dam Puns

**Disclaimer. I own nothing but my character, all rights go to Rick Riordan.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 15**

 **River Rafting and Dam Puns**

Why me?

What did I do to the gods above that they had to throw so much shit at me all at once?

I mean yeah, my father did some shit that falls under the category of "bad" but come on! I don't believe that I should be punished because I have a certain gods genes within me, despite the fact that I think he's the best thing since sliced bread…and sliced bread is damn great. So, after what seemed like an eternity but in all reality was about five minutes max, Bianca finally managed to calm down and Zoe decided to take over the whole comforting situation as I was dead on my feet for lack of a better term.

It only took a moment for me to pass out after she left my care, just to be awoken four hours later which I felt was much too soon but the group was right and we did have to continue our quest to save the goddess. A goddess I didn't even like might I remind you, so after packing up the tent, swearing to destroy the sun for daring to sit there making my ever-growing headache much worse, and wondering when the obnoxious throbbing would cease in my left arm. We set off once again, walking through the desert was definitely not on the market at the moment so I busied myself with finding something that could take us down the highway as fast as possible.

I was mainly looking for something with a lot of seats so that I may pass out once again, my new arm was already proving to be an annoyance as it tended to try and blind me as the sun continued to glint off its freshly polished frame that and the fact that everyone kept glancing at it with this pitying expression on their face. What was the issue? I got a new arm, one that's way better for the most part, and probably indestructible to boot, there is literally nothing wrong with me other than my being extremely irritable at the moment and sporting a headache that would cause my father to start Ragnorak once again just to get his mind off of the terrible throbbing.

Thalia was walking a Hel of a lot closer to me now, which was a good thing in my book but the actual reason probably stemmed from her not wanting me to do something incredibly stupid again as I only had one Protean coin so any other loss of limbs would be very problematic.

"Are you sure we should be going through this stuff again?" Percy asked as I kicked a few objects down the massive hill of junk.

"If he's hiding another giant robot in this junkyard, I'm going to find him" I growled peering over at other piles to try and find some sort of vehicle.

"I really think we should just leave" Thalia said sternly, I shrugged.

"I'm not walking through the desert, I'm tired, hungry, and I'm sure that if I asked for a car the suitcase would definitely eat me if the growling is any indication" I said sparing a glance at the black box of usefulness in my left hand…claw…thing.

"Hey guys!" Grover called and I looked around only to see nothing, until I squinted and saw a black dot off into the distance.

"How did he get over there so fast?" I wondered before beginning to trudge over to the excitable Satyr.

Well...Damn.

"This is the best thing you've ever done since meeting me" I said as I stared at the black and slightly rusted vintage Camaro.

Grover seemed very pleased with himself before he gained a thoughtful expression.

"What about the gift from the forest?" he asked.

"I'm still contemplating finding and eating the damned thing, so it would be good not to remind me of it" I said idly checking out the engine to see if it was in working order.

Sadly, it wasn't the head gaskets were shot, and the battery had a hole in it for some odd reason.

"Damn it" I growled slamming the hood down.

"It doesn't work does it" Thalia stated looking over the vehicle.

I nodded placing my left hand on the hood, wait a minute…left hand…Protean hand, if this works it will be my new favorite appendage, wait second favorite, can't forget about the good old male genitalia.

"I'm going to try something" I said and Thalia whipped her head around sharply to glare at me.

"Nothing dangerous" I said quickly, well maybe I thought as I focused on my left arm.

My hand sunk quickly into the hood almost melding with it as the car began to shudder and shake, metal rippling and changing as it morphed to fit the image in my mind, the rust cleared away and the black paint shifted until it settled for a dark green color, the symbol of my father carved itself into the doors a bright golden in color.

It roared to life, sounding wild and angry…which may have had something to do with my agitation but that would require further study that I am not in the mood for. Once the car settled and began to idle I slowly pulled my left arm back, I was missing my little finger, not a bad trade at all.

"That's handy" Zoe said and I looked at her wide eyed.

"What?" Zoe said confused.

"You just made a joke, not a very good one but actually no that was perfectly timed, excellent job" I said with a nod causing her to scoff and shake her head, hey I had to point out the impossible event...my hatred of puns not withstanding.

Thalia was grinning as she went to open the driver door, peering inside she sat there for a moment before poking her head back out.

"Al, there's a bed back here" she said confused and I grinned.

"I know" not a bad trade at all.

Wondrous sleep, just from lying down I can already feel my body relax and continue its much-needed recuperation, it was easy to ignore the simple conversations the rest of the group was having as Thalia drove us down the desert highway. I think we were going to Las Vegas but I'm honestly too tired to remember, I finally blacked out when Thalia turned on the radio Green Days' _Time of Your Life_ started playing the acoustic guitar immediately soothing my mind into blissful oblivion.

You know those odd dreams you have sometimes but for the life of you cannot remember? Yeah sadly I don't experience those, every dream I have always seems to stick with me in almost frightening detail. Almost as if they were more than just dreams but actual memories of things I have done or will do in the future, the smell of destruction wafted into my nose, you know the smell, the smell of fire all around you, melted steel and burning cars and not to mention blood, so much blood that you can practically taste the iron.

In this case however I believe I am actually tasting iron, I can't see much through the thick black smoke surrounding me but I can tell that i'm in the midst of battle, my body feels off, larger, stronger, but still familiar I hear the screams of people in distress and the sounds of gunfire, battle raged around me until I felt a massive presence above me. I looked up to gaze at the large shadow, a sense of annoyance filled my body until another figure rushed past me, large and green? The two clashed and then-

I jolted awake when a door was slammed and the car rocked back and forth.

"What? I'm up who needs to die?" I asked looking around at the empty car, everyone was outside for some reason and I could feel Thalia's annoyance from here.

Whatever it is, should be fun I guess wish I could've slept a bit more as that dream was getting extremely interesting, but at least my headache is down to a dull throb every few moments, the passenger door popped open of its own accord and I hopped out squinting to protect my eyes from that blaring sun overhead.

Gotta remember to kill that thing later.

"What's going on?" I asked as I surveyed the area, it looks like we reached a dead end from what I could see, if the canyon and the sign were any indication.

I walked to the edge and scanned the river below, nothing big few rapids but that was easy to navigate, the issue was getting down there in the first place...Nope still coming out of my sleep induced daze to think of any ideas.

"Any suggestions on how to get down?" I asked looking over at Thalia who was currently scowling at the canyon like it kicked her puppy.

I guess she was having fun with the car if she was this annoyed by an obstacle, oh shit I need my finger back now that I think about it, turning away from the edge I trekked back to the car and shoved my hand back into the hood. The car rapidly decomposed in front of my eyes, and odd sight to be sure as it returned to its previous disheveled state, pulling my hand back I saw that my little finger had returned so with a shrug I turned back to the group as they huddled around a part of the cliff.

"That's a goat path" I heard Percy say when I came upon them, I looked down and saw the extremely steep pathway, Grover shrugged.

"The rest of us aren't goats" Percy continued and I shrugged until I spotted Thalia's pale face as she gazed down into the waters below.

I sighed and grabbed her hand, she snapped her vision from the far drop to me and I smirked.

"I wouldn't let you fall" I said softly so everyone else couldn't hear, I'm sure she wanted to keep her fear of heights a secret, she smiled lightly and nodded.

"Alright everyone gather around" I called and they grouped up around me, I pulled my dagger and a bright green chain appeared around my waist connected to the handle.

I proceeded to wrap the chain around the groups waist the chain morphing into a loop as it wrapped around itself, soon we were all chained by the waist with Thalia being the closest to me and her chain the shortest in length.

"Alright we're ready to go, lead the way Grover I'll be the last to go down" I said nodding at the Satyr who saluted of all things before heading down the path.

I guess he remembered that he was still technically a cadet at my academy, funny how we remember things like that at the oddest of times.

It was a slow trek but eventually everyone was on the cliff and Thalia was three seconds from freaking out as we rappelled down, stabbing my dagger deep into the rock with the dull side facing down so that it didn't slide down the cliff I slowly extended the chain from that and we were on our way.

"keep your eyes on me Thalia" I said facing down towards the ground, we were really high up damn it was making me a bit nervous.

I needed to make sure she didn't look down for a second.

"Did I ever tell you that you have very pretty eyes?" I asked her and she looked extremely confused for a second.

"I think so? Why is that important right now?" she asked and I chuckled.

"It's not really, I just thought you should know" I said with a shrug, I glanced behind her and saw that we were about thirty feet up now.

"Soooo~ what are we going to name our kids?" I asked and she sputtered loudly, a nice blush dusting her cheeks.

"What! What kids?" She shouted losing her balance for a second before righting herself once again long enough to send a feisty glare my way.

"You know the ones we're going to have in oh maybe six or seven years" I said idly with a sly grin.

"You wish" she shot back but I saw the slight grin she sported.

"I don't know, I think you're warming up to the idea" I said with a shrug.

"Yeah warming up to the idea of shooting you with lighting again" she said with a shake of her head.

"Hey, as long as you don't aim for the important parts, my plan will still come into effect" I chuckled.

"You're an idiot" she laughed.

"And you're becoming immune to my flirting, which is good as it wouldn't be natural for you to imitate a tomato every time I'm around" I said, She scoffed.

"You just caught me off guard" she stated dryly and I rose an eyebrow at that before looking behind her again, I saw Percy step onto the ground and make way for Bianca followed by Zoe.

"Alright, we've reached the bottom, and I have once again flaunted my skill at keeping you calm" I said with a grin as she stepped off the wall.

"Whatever" she grumbled as I righted myself, I looked around noting the canoe rental place about a half mile out.

"Alright guys, let's go rent some canoes" I called releasing the magic keeping the chains in existence, my dagger appeared in its holster once again and Grover made a comment about how that was "cool".

It just reminded me of Nico and how he will react once he sees my new arm, it'll probably be a mixture of great worry and extreme awe at its golden frame and clawed hand, which honestly I would like to see so it would be prudent if we could hurry this little quest up.

I shook my head with a wry smile as we made it to the canoe operation, there was no one there so I just pushed a canoe towards the water as Percy placed something on the counter, I personally believe that I was in the right because

A. We had a goddess to save and.

B. they weren't there to say stop anyway so what does it really matter?

I felt a tap on my shoulder and shooting a glance back as I settled the canoe on the shore I saw Thalia standing there.

"Just wanted to thank you for ya know" she said motioning over at the cliff, I looked at her strangely.

"What male wouldn't do that for his girlfriend?" I asked.

"Girlfriend?!" she sputtered and I chuckled.

"Yes when two people cuddle, kiss, and are generally attracted to each other they are what's called an item, it's the next step in courtship if you must know" I informed shaking my head.

She punched my arm rather hard but I resisted the urge to wince, she looked like she was trying to speak but words just didn't seem to work for her at the moment, a pity for I was looking forward to her obvious claims of denial and all around adorable excuses but alas it was not meant to be so I just motioned for her to enter the canoe.

She eyed the rapids warily and I rolled my eyes.

"Please don't tell me you're afraid of water as well?" I asked teasingly and she glared harshly.

"No I'm not scared of water, gods I just want to electrocute you" she growled but I laughed and pulled her into my side.

"Percy! Can you do something about the rapids? I wouldn't normally be worried but I'm not sure how this new arm would affect my swimming" I called and he sent me some quick thumbs up before continuing to push his and Grover's canoe towards the shoreline.

"See? Problem solved" I said before she elbowed me in the side with a shake of her head, I helped her into the canoe much to her chagrin and once everyone got into the water I hopped in and grabbed an oar.

"Percy, you lead, Zoe where are we headed?" I asked as she seemed to be the one who knows exactly where to go.

"Upstream!" she called back.

I nodded "Lead on Percy, and keep those rapids calm!" I called but he shook his head.

"I don't have too!" he called back and I looked at him funny before Thalia tapped me and pointed at the water.

I looked down when the canoe jerked forward and saw a couple of teenage girls that looked like they belonged in a mall rather than a river in the middle of nowhere, and were they giggling at me? Oh, and blushing as well...my oh my I didn't think that would happen, I glanced at Thalia to see her glaring hard at the girls, there was even a few sparks here and there as if she was wondering whether or not to send a bolt down there.

"She-devils!" Zoe yelled and I whipped my head around to see her reach for her bow dripping wet.

"They're just playing!" Percy called at her as she came to her senses, the girls were giggling again but I saw the nasty looks they were sending her way.

Zoe said something but I couldn't quite catch it over the roar of the waves, however I could make out one word, forgive, and I just knew I was going to have quite the headache figuring that one out.

Without the need to paddle and navigate the rapid tides of the river, I found the only way to pass the time was annoy Thalia, and that got me thinking, I spend a lot of time thinking of Thalia, worrying about Thalia, raging about Thalia, thinking about how adorable Thalia is, and I must wonder. Am I obsessed with this demi-goddess? I mean all the clues are there so there would be no point in denying it, but why? What about her makes me so interested?

The only answer I can come up with is everything, everything about Thalia entices me, makes me want to know more about her, be around her just a little longer, watch all her emotions, this level of attachment is rather disturbing as it showed that she already had an extreme level of power over me. However it was so very interesting at the same time…It's not love yet, but it's close and that is actually quite alright with me at the moment haha, I just hope it doesn't end up biting me in the ass.

"So what names did we agree on?" I asked, Thalia groaned loudly.

"I didn't agree on any names, you just keep spouting them off…And who said they were going to be boys anyway?" she asked with a glare but I merely smiled.

"I take it that you're actually thinking about it then" I said with a rather cheeky grin if I do say so myself, she stopped went over what she said then glared hard.

"That didn't happen" she said lowly but I shrugged.

"It did in my world, over and over and over again" I said, she started doing that sparking thing again so I leaned away from her and looked around for anything that could take her mind off electrocuting me.

It was then that I spotted it, the large structure that could only be Hoover Dam, or in our case the end of our little trip up the river.

"Looks like that's the end of the road ladies and gents!" I called out as everyone looked up at the massive structure.

"Hoover Dam" Percy said in awe.

"Annabeth told us so much about this" Thalia said successfully distracted, only to reach over and send a lovely stream of electricity up my arm, I repressed the urge to jump as I glared lightly at her smug expression.

"Gonna take more than the world's most powerful Hydro Generator to distract me from dishing out retribution" she said lightly.

"Seems that my very intricate and well-defined vocabulary is rubbing off on you" I pointed out, she shook her head.

"I am very literate thank you, I just choose not to show it much, it tends to intimidate others when one has it all" she said sticking her nose into the air.

I couldn't hold it in, I started laughing almost falling off the canoe, she joined me shortly after barely keeping up her ridiculous posture, she was reduced to holding on to me in order to stay in the vehicle which just made my position a lot more precarious. It was only a matter of time until I finally fell off, I was soaked instantly the weight of my clothing not doing me any favors when it came to staying near the canoe and not being dragged back down the river from whence we came.

It took the combined efforts of myself, Thalia and the lovely sea creatures I learned later to be Naiads to actually get myself back onto the canoe without tipping it over, Thalia tried very hard to apologize with a straight face, but failed miserably. So, I thought a bit of my own retribution was necessary which she felt moments later as she plummeted into the waters below, however unlike her I had the means to keep her close with my green chain wrapped once again around her waist.

I'm just the nicest person sometimes.

"I hate you" she growled, but despite her statement I found her leaning on my shoulder, I guess little games here and there can really reduce stress when under extreme pressure.

"Okay, so we're going on a tour of Hoover Dam why?" I asked as we moved through the groups of tourists, Thalia and I got a new change of clothes from my good old semi-sentient probably man-eating suitcase.

I was now sporting a black dress shirt and slacks while Thalia looked quite lovely in a jean skirt, black leggings and Green Day shirt, although she wasn't very happy about the skirt option, luckily however, I was able to talk her out of verbally abusing the suitcase because I wasn't quite sure what its reaction would be.

"I personally believe that her clothes are not practical battle garments" Zoe commented dryly but I just shrugged.

"I mean, if you want to speak to Saul you can" I said, they looked at me oddly until Thalia filled them in.

"He decided to name the suitcase Saul, because you can always count on Saul but you never mess with Saul" she stated with a roll of her eyes.

"Actually, I said you never fuck with Saul but that works too for all of your tender ears" I chuckled.

They continued to stare at me, which they seem to do a lot actually before Percy shook his head.

"Let's just go see the sights" he sighed.

"Can you get a read on any monsters Lamb-Chop?" I asked.

Grover grumbled something but sniffed the air anyway, we waited a minute before his eyes widened in alarm.

"Yeah I smell them alright, but the scents coming from all around us and it's kind of creeping me out" he said rubbing his arms.

Whether it was to ward off the slight chill, or from his feeling "creeped out" I had no idea.

Either way I began to cast my gaze around our position, I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary but that only seemed to put me even further on edge.

"Okay, there's a snack bar in the visitor center, let's just get there and plan out our next move" Thalia said pointing across the way.

She was correct as there was a building carved into the side of the mountain flanked by two large statues that reminded me of the Oscar trophies…with wings.

"Those aren't going to come to life and try and kill us, are they? I only have one more flesh and blood arm and without another coin I'd rather not lose it" I asked.

She actually growled at me for that comment and I rose my hands in surrender, too soon for joking about the loss of my arm I guess.

"How did you know about the center Thalia?" Percy asked for the much needed save, lest I find myself on the wrong end of another verbal assault via Thalia, I've gotten too many of those as it is in my opinion, and I haven't even known her a week yet...such a wonderful girl she is, and yep my masochistic side has finally been confirmed.

"I came here once to see the guardians" she said motioning towards the statues.

"They were dedicated to Zeus when the dam was built, a gift from Athena apparently" she said idly.

"That's one hell of a Father's Day present" I chuckled as we made our way towards the upon closer inspection, rather intimidating statues… though that could be chalked up to a slight aversion to giant bronze things, thank you Talos you asshole.

The tourists were all crowded around the base of the statues, I pointed this out and Thalia sighed heavily.

"The mortals rub the feet of the statues" she stated and I rose an eyebrow.

"Apparently it's good luck, they don't know the statues are for Zeus but they can feel that there's something special about them" she clarified.

I chuckled at the idea of rubbing a statues foot for absolutely no reason, people are strange sometimes.

"Let us just hurry to the dam snack bar, we should eat while we can" Zoe stated.

Makes sense, it's only two more days until the winter solstice so it would be best if we hurried…wait the Hel she just say?

"Say that again Zoe?" I asked turning to look at her as everyone else began to hold back snickers.

"Let us hurry to the dam snack bar?" she said again confusion lacing her tone, I nodded.

"Yeeeaaah, that's what I thought you said" I said slowly.

"Zoe's right, besides I could use some dam French fries" Grover said struggling to keep his face straight.

Oh no, we were not doing this now.

"Stop, we're not doing this" I said shaking my head.

"Well she's right, besides I need to use the dam restroom" Thalia said looking anywhere but me.

"Really? We're really doing this?" I asked glaring at her.

Percy couldn't hold it and began to laugh loudly, soon everyone else joined in except for Zoe and I, Zoe because I was sure she just didn't understand and me because I REALLY hate puns, they're the worst jokes ever.

"How do you guys think those damn jokes are funny?" I asked with a sigh, but that only got them laughing harder.

"Okay now what? Wait, oh piss off" I growled stalking away from the hysteric teens.

Zoe decided to leave them as well.

"What was so funny?" she asked confused and I shook my head.

"Dam is technically a curse word if you use it the right way, you should know that" I sighed.

She was silent for a few moments before her eyes went wide.

"How childish" she muttered looking back at the group.

"More like horrible taste in comedy" I muttered with a shake of my head, I found myself doing that a lot lately.

The number of footsteps decreased, don't ask why I was counting the steps of all my companions because that particular habit formed from my monster training with father. Some monsters preferred to go after groups and pick them off one by one, almost like a game you could say, but the kicker is that they were damn good at their games so the best way to catch them out was to count the steps of those in your group. In my case it was my clones, so when a pair of steps suddenly stopped I stopped as well, turning I saw Percy gazing over the edge of the dam looking at something, however something else caught my eye as well.

To the east, two men wearing camouflaged uniforms, they had found us…and currently had their sights set on our watery demi-god, by now everyone else turned to see why I had stopped and spotted the same thing.

"Percy!" I called and he looked over at me.

"You should probably run!" I yelled pointing behind him, he looked back before quickly moving towards us just as the skeleton warriors began moving with haste in our direction knocking over tourists who shouted in protest.

"We gotta move" I said to the group before turning around.

"Through the visitor center" Thalia said pointing towards the crowded place, Percy reached us and we all began to run and we made quite a bit of distance as well but it all went to shit when we actually made it into the building.

The crowds swept over us like the rapid waters we just came from, I went in with a group of six, I came out with just Thalia…not a bad trade but in this situation, it was so far from ideal.

"Shit" I muttered looking around the considerable number of tourists all talking, pointing out different things, eating something or other, laughing and some even gave me and Thalia odd looks, but I guess that had to do with how distressed we were.

"Damn it all, where did they go?" I asked Thalia, she was turning and looking around so fast I thought she would get herself sick.

"I don't know! They were right next to us" she said her tone betraying her worry.

"Fuck it, we head to the snack bar, that was the last place we all talked about" I said grabbing her hand, with a quick glance at the signs we were on our way and it didn't take us long at all, Thalia was still looking around warily her hand itching towards her weapons.

I didn't give her the chance to accidentally pop her spear on some mortal who didn't know any better, so I handed her my card and told her to grab something for us to eat while we wait. Surprisingly she went along with it without question, I stood my ground by one of the tables and kept my eye out for anything familiar, friend or foe alike.

After a few minutes Thalia returned and handed me a burrito, just as Bianca and Zoe made their appearance.

"Okay, so everyone split up in their preferred groups, that's an odd stroke of luck I guess" I said with a shrug.

"Who said you were my preferred person?" Thalia asked biting into her burrito, I grinned still keeping a critical eye out.

"No one, but I know you're mine" I said idly motioning for Bianca and Zoe to hit the food bar with my card.

"Where are Percy and Grover?" Thalia asked after a few more minutes.

"Probably doing something stupid, but not stupid enough to get them killed I hope" I muttered tossing our wrappers into the trash.

"While not the smartest of us, I do not believe they are stupid enough to get caught" Zoe said from her seat at the table, I glanced at her.

"You realize we're talking about the person that threw something at an inert Talos stating, "I don't like fake feet" right?" I asked her dryly.

She was silent for a few moments.

"They're dead" she finally said with a tone of finality that actually had me choke back a laugh, but speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Percy and Grover stopped in front of us completely out of breath and Percy even had his sword popped.

"Let me guess, they found you" I sighed and they nodded as three warriors crested the stairs.

I growled before gazing out of the massive window that lined the whole bar.

Two towards the east.

Three stationed at the west.

We were barred from Arizona and Nevada respectively.

While we could fight our way through, there's no guarantee that more wouldn't appear mid fight...

So there we were, stuck between a rock and a hard place with snakes lining our feet for an added bit of fun.

This just confirmed on thing for me, the Greek pantheon was definitely out for my hide, and I don't even know what I did in the first place.

By Odins beard, I. Just. **Hate**. The Greek Pantheon.

 **Well there's another chapter for you guys, and for the reason of the late update...I have no excuse Destiny 2 is just rather addicting.**

 **As usual, Read, Review, Flame. Doesn't matter because it's all love in my book.**

 **Alfred Vonstein, signing out.**


	16. Sixteen, Burritos, and Explosions

**Disclaimer, I own nothing but some plot elements and my characters. All rights go towards Rick Riordan.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 16**

 **Burritos, Explosions, and San Francisco**

Alright, so there we were skeleton warriors on all sides, stuck in a snack bar on Hoover Dam of all places and I just can't help but wish for a bit of reprieve at the moment for I don't think my psyche can take all of this chaos at once...and coming from the son of Loki that's really stressing the amount of shit going on.

"Elevator" Grover said quickly and without any other plan to go on it was the best we had at the moment, so I'll give Lamb Chop props for quick thinking.

We rushed towards it only for a ding to sound off and I knew it wasn't going to be good when three more skeletons stepped from it, never mind Lamb Chop I'm taking your strategist card.

Thalia and I were the closest to the doors, and in a stroke of pure synchronized bliss we each slammed our heels into the chest cavity of two of the skeleton warriors, they tumbled into the third as I reached in and pressed every single button on the elevator panel, something I love doing but please don't tell anyone it's juvenile but so funny.

The doors shut surprisingly quick and that was three less we had to worry about at the moment.

"Nice kick dear" I said with a grin.

"Yours wasn't so bad either" she smirked before another jolt hit my arm, she's going to stop doing that at some point.

"Now is not the time love" I groaned only for more electricity to shoot down my arm.

Now, these pet names were going to cause me permanent nerve damage, but I couldn't really bring myself to care because Thalia is Thalia so how can I resist? However that's when things got strange, Lamb Chop had yet another idea that worked out quite well now that I think about it. I might just start calling him Grover again because of it...Hmm no, no he's Lamb Chop forever.

"Burrito fight!" he roared before tossing a quick fastball with his burrito pegging the skeleton warrior right between the eyes, knocking its skull straight from the rest of its body.

Now I can't personally tell you what the children littering the cafe saw but whatever it was caused them to start the largest food fight I had ever seen, soda, chips, hot dogs, and burritos flew through the air as they whooped in joy. Unfortunately for the skeleton warriors all of the anarchy made it extremely hard for them to aim their weapons but made it impossibly easy for Percy, Thalia, and I to tackle them right off the stairs and into a condiment table conveniently placed at the bottom of them.

"Outside now!" I yelled as we made our way through the battle of the Hoover Burrito, and yes that is how I still refer to that particular event whenever I look back on it.

I never knew how stagnant the air was in there until we burst back out the doors of the building into the wide open area, but there was no time to feel refreshed as the warriors on either side of the road closed in on us fast. Cutting across the street towards the twin bronze statues that stood tall in the light of the sun, the warriors surrounded us in a crescent formation all in different states of disarray and while they didn't seem to happy about it I was enjoying it at least.

"Everyone surround Bianca, and Bianca I hope you're ready for the fastest game of whack-a-mole in the world" I said pulling my daggers.

And oh that doesn't feel right at all, I glanced down at my left hand to see if I was indeed holding my weapon correctly because for some reason it completely slipped my mind that I can't feel my left hand anymore, you know with the lack of nerves and all. Using my dagger with my left hand will be more of a liability than an advantage, imagine holding a fork with a pair of tongs and expecting to use that to eat a salad, it's probably not going to go the way to think it will.

A spark of irritation shot through me but I forced it down as I replaced my dagger into it's holster, the air around my hand heated up and with a tiny flick of my finger the exhaust ports opened up and flames shot from the ends. The entire arm roared to life as the symbols burned bright red and Percy took a step away from me eyeing the arm warily.

"Alright boys and girls, they have batons and with Bianca here they can actually die so, we'll be just fine" I said, by father this situation would've actually been bad if I wasn't so good at saving females, how would we get out of this situation if I actually failed to stop the girl standing behind me from killing herself? No time for that.

They began to advance but I met them in the middle left hand cocked back before letting my fist fly when they got in range, now I can't tell you what I was expecting to happen when my fist made contact but I can tell that what did happen completely threw me off guard. With the sound reminiscent of a cannon shot an explosion went off completely incinerating the poor being I hit and taking out half of the two skeleton warriors next to it.

The ground shook violently with the impact and when it all died down, the two fell over and went still while the dust from the first one settled. The ground was burnt black from where I was standing to about ten feet out and I could hear the mass hysteria in the cafe from here as the nine remaining skeleton warriors backed up, huh? Didn't know they had self preservation.

"What?" Thalia stuttered out as I took a couple steps back and just stared at my arm.

"Insane" Lamb Chop muttered bringing his reed pipes down from his mouth that was now hanging as he stared wide eyed at where the warrior used to be.

Bianca, Zoe and Percy said nothing as they stared at me, probably trying to come to terms with the power I just let loose and honestly I don't blame them because I'm still trying to figure that out for myself.

About half of the runes adorning the glinting metal dulled and that's when I realized that, this was the result of only about half power. That's when it settled in my mind that I probably just replaced my lost left arm with a Gods damned weapon of mass destruction.

"I love this thing" I said finally before bringing it back again ready for more.

"I think our odds just skyrocketed" I heard Percy mutter in awe and it took a lot of willpower not to laugh at the comment.

We rushed the remaining warriors while they were stunned and by the time they could get some semblance of order back the battle was already over, I didn't fire off the arm cannon again because I'm sure that if SWAT and a bomb squad weren't already on their way, they would be if another explosion like that happened.

The battle was over quickly, no one was hurt and I discovered a lovely little trump card to use against this Titans Wrath thing so all in all I think things went pretty well.

"Okay was I the only one who saw Al blow up three skeleton warriors?" Grover finally asked when we all came back together each staring at my arm like it would go off again at some point.

"No time for explanations, mainly because I need time to come up with an explanation on top of the fact that SWAT is definitely coming with a bomb squad, so we really need to leave now." I said motioning for the group to move.

"what is this swat you speak of?" Zoe asked, as we started moving.

"Special Weapons and Tactics, police special forces" I said rushing over to one of the large black vans the Skeleton Warriors rode in on.

Slapping my hand down of the hood it sunk and the van began to morph and change until a large green Dodge truck stood before us, with a golden snake wearing Fathers rarely used helmet as a hood ornament. Hopping in with Grover once again calling shotgun but ending with Thalia in the passenger seat anyway, I threw her in 1st and gunned it down the road just in time to see two helicopters obviously belonging to the police hover over to the Dam.

Alright, back on the highway and moving towards San Francisco, luckily my Protean Arm decided that a GPS was important and added one to the dash.

"Thalia, can you set the GPS for San Francisco?" I asked and she just kind of stared at me for a second...did I say something odd?

"What's a GPS?" she asked and I had to swerve to dodge a couple of vehicles when I decided to take my eyes of the road in order to stare at her.

"Alright, we're going to talk about this later" I said cutting her a look only for her to shrug and return to bobbing her head to the radio, a lot of Green Day has been playing in the cars I morph, I wonder if it has something to do with her favorite genre? Even more questions for later.

Once I got the truck cruising steadily in sixth I was finally able to mess with the GPS and had it set, and it said we would make it in just about...nine hours. I hit the first exit I saw and pulled off the road, once we came to a full stop I couldn't help but slam my palm into the steering wheel bending it in on itself only for it to pop back out and reform.

"What? What happened?" Thalia asked turning down the radio.

"We need to move faster, even if I take this thing to top speed it would take at least six hours to get to San Francisco" I muttered before opening the door and stepping out.

I began to pace furiously, we needed to move faster, and between traffic and winding roads it would be completely impossible to get there any faster than six hours in the absolute best conditions. If only there was something I could do, I mean if we had Apollo's flying sun at least it would be a straight shot… I glanced down at my arm before a wide grin split my face, If this worked Father will have reached a whole new level of godhood, but if it didn't well at least I tried.

Making my way to the hood I slammed my hand down once again letting it sink until it reached the beginning of my forearm and I concentrated. I focused completely on everything that allows a vehicle to fly through the skies and even came up with a few completely impossible ideas of my own, because this was fucking magic and I'll be damned if it didn't make the impossible, possible.

The end result had the entire group gaping, even my eyebrows were reaching for my hairline, it was like nothing I had ever seen before, the truck had slimmed down until it looked more like a Lambo rather than a Dodge. Wings protruded from the sides and the back held thrusters that were impossible not to see from any angle, it still had that hood ornament but on the sides AIR LOKI was printed in bright golden that completely stood out from the green paint.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I guarantee that we'll be on the news tonight" I said grinning, and to think it still left me about an inch of my golden arm so at least I won't have to see what the end of my stub looks like, not a bad trade overall.

"Alright people get in" I said making my way to the driver seat, luckily I kept a one handed steering mechanism in mind otherwise I would have had to leave flying this thing up to someone else, Thalia falling under the not in a million years category for that idea.

"Grover" Thalia called causing him to turn around.

"You can take shotgun" she said causing his eyes to go wide.

"Yes!" he yelled before hopping into the passenger seat, I wrapped her in a one armed hug.

"With how fast this thing can go, we won't be in the air long dear" I said soothingly rubbing her arm.

She let out a large breath before nodding and getting all the way in the back without electrocuting me for the pet name surprisingly, she couldn't see the outside due to the lack of windows because lesson one of being a good boyfriend _"Be Awe Inspiringly Considerate" Loki Odinson 2009_. With the press of a button the thrusters roared to life, and with a flick of the stick we were now facing the water.

"Uh Al?" Grover asked quietly but I ignored him in favor of keeping my eyes on the prize.

"Ready" I said letting the thrust increase as the magical brakes kept us in place...if only barely.

"Al?" Grover asked again reaching quickly for the seatbelt, I hear commotion in the back as everyone tried to quickly clasp themselves in.

"Set" I said watching the water flow before me, the thrust had reached maximum power and I knew this was going to be five times better than anything Apollo had because I am just petty that way.

"Go!" I yelled happily as we took off leaving a large cloud of dust in our wake and some scorched earth to go with it, my back hit the seat hard and the screams of my passengers sounded like music to my ears.

The front tires hit the water before folding in on themselves and providing upward thrust and soon we were gliding across the sea, I pulled the stick back and we shot into the night sky and wow how long has it been since we've actually slept? That particular question will be avoided due to the fact that I would end up rather cranky if I knew the answer. Finally we were cruising across the sky ironically playing Wheel In The Sky by Journey. Tossing the GPS back on it now told me that we would arrive at our destination in a mere two hours, much better.

Had a run in with some Air Force pilots as we blasted through the sky, lucky for us and not so much them, the idea of getting shot out of the sky and falling to the cruel ground below us had Thalia in a mini freak out session that had me switching with a clone so I could go back there and do something about it. Let me tell you that the amount of sparks shooting off her body was rather scary, not to mention how bright her eyes glowed as she gripped her hair between her hands and curled in on herself.

"Thalia? Thalia! Calm down!" I said anxiously as I held her but she just kept shaking her head, my clone dodged a shot from one of the jets following us, and despite my best efforts and soothing words that evasive maneuver was enough to have her snap.

"Fuck off!" she screamed and I could feel the thunder as it sounded around us, now I don't know if it was Thalia or Zeus but with the force of nothing I've seen before lightning shot from the sky and took every single plane out, there was literally nothing left but dust on the wind. I highly doubt they survived.

Thalia passed out in my arms soon after that and I let out a sigh of relief before shifting her around into a comfortable position on the comfortable bed we were on. Making my way back to the front I saw everyone staring wide eyed at the sleeping beauty in the back, "don't say a word" I said coolly before letting my clone disperse and getting back in control of the vehicle.

It would take about two more hours to reach San Francisco so I settled in and focused on the task of keeping the vehicle on the straight and narrow, hoping that no one else decided to get in our way while we were in the air, more for Thalia's peace of mind than the idea of other mortals being killed because if you cause what's mine any problems then you deserve anything you get.

Scared the hell out of a homeless man, I don't think anyone was expecting a very small Lambo Jet...thing to land on the beach of San Francisco. He ran off somewhere but I'm quite sure any authorities he can find will stare at him rather oddly then proceed to tell him that drinking at two AM is bad. Looking back I saw that everyone else was asleep which was rather amusing if I do say so myself, so as quietly as I could I stepped out and looked around at the barren area.

Most people were still asleep so that allowed me to freely place my stump of an arm against the hood of the odd vehicle I will now be referring to as the Loki Jet, and let the rest of my arm slowly reform as the vehicle morphed and changed once again to look like a large green Dodge truck. The difference was on the inside, getting back in I saw that the seats were replaced with what can only be described as small beds that the group were now resting on comfortably.

The truck was warm enough which meant I didn't have to mess with the AC, so I just parked it out of sight and let it run because gas conservation is for mortals without Protean Arms there I said it, sue me. Moving around the beds without waking anyone was relatively easy compared to some of the other things I've dealt with lately, getting into the small bed without waking Thalia however was a different story.

Now normally I wouldn't do something like this as it is kind of creepy, however one I am very tired, two her reaction will be amusing, and three she's a demigoddess of lightning and daughter of the top Greek God so excuse me if I believe that she can take care of herself if she really needs too. What I wasn't expecting to happen though was for her to groan rather irritably latch onto my waist as I began to lay down then proceed to hug me like I was a very cuddly, very warm pillow.

No matter what you people say I never referred to myself as "cuddly" no one will ever believe you so you shouldn't even believe yourself, because it's my word over yours. So after getting used to the very odd position of my head at her legs and her upper body curled up on my chest like a cat, I finally passed out making sure that the truck will wake us up at a reasonable time to hopefully finish this damned quest.

No, nope I lied, I didn't realize how tired I actually was, no time is actually a reasonable time right now and the truck was beginning to get antsy with the alarm as it shook too and fro quickly waking everyone within its comfortable space.

"Fuck off" I groaned tightening my hold on the soft warm thing I had wrapped around me.

"What's happening?" I heard coming from up front before I felt a rather large shock that had me sitting up and looking around.

"What happened? What needs to die?" I asked as my eyes adjusted and my mind tried to catch up with the world around me.

"Let me go!" Thalia growled and I looked down to see her bright eyes and rather feverish blush, taking stock of our position I merely grinned.

"I'm sorry but I can't really do that until you let me go" I said taking note of our tangled legs and the tight hold she had on my abdomen.

She rolled her eyes and I let her untangle herself from my person but not before stealing a little kiss for myself because I deserve something for the constant shocks she gives me, which only earned me another shock but it was worth it. I cracked my neck before making my way back to the driver's seat, checking the time I saw that it was about seven AM, a pretty decent amount of time has passed so I believe it was now time to get this quest moving once again.

"Alright people, I think it's time to get some food in our stomachs and get this quest rolling" I said brightly throwing the truck in first and slowly rolling off the beach.

It didn't take long to find a place to eat and soon we were seated at a diner planning our next move, the problem was that we didn't know exactly where Artemis was however I felt that I already had the answer to that, I just had to remember what that answer was. It wasn't until I finished my waffle and Grover made a comment about the sea that my mind snapped back to what Apollo, or Fred said on the train.

"Who's Nereus?" I asked looking up, mainly at Zoe because she was old and knew stuff about things.

"The old man of the sea? Why do you wish to know?" Zoe asked leaning forward in her seat, eyeing me oddly...I could dissect the look but I'm not awake enough for that.

"Our esteemed Apollo mentioned that he should know where our missing Goddess is, as well as some other things we may need to know" I said with a shrug, she merely nodded before leaning back.

"I know how to find him, luckily he frequents this place more than any other" she said finally and I rose an eyebrow, how convenient, but we can wait on tracking this guy down until after I finish my bacon.

This...had to be one of the funniest things I've seen in a long while, because never in my short time being with these people did I ever imagine Percy standing before me wearing a raggedy flannel shirt, jeans way too big for him, bright red sneakers with the outfit topped off by an extremely large rainbow colored hat courtesy of my money, Goodwill, and Zoe on a mission to make him blend in.

"It uh, it suits you Percy" I said with a nod as Thalia hid her face in my shoulder trying to fight back the laugh that was dying to come out, Percy merely glared at me.

"I like the hat" Lamb Chop said with a snicker and I even saw Zoe and Bianca fighting a smile at the look on Percy's face.

"Why am I doing this again?" he said with a mighty glare at Zoe but she just shrugged.

"To blend in with the other vagrants" she said but I noticed that she actively avoided looking at her creation.

With that we set off, going around the Piers with Zoe leading the way as we searched for Nereus and I noticed that as we continued to search, more and more homeless people started popping up here and there until finally we reached our destination as Zoe pointed down towards a Pier almost packed with homeless. They were huddled together in blankets, obviously waiting for the soup kitchen to open for lunch so that they could get something hot to eat, and I found myself feeling bad for them as they looked around warily in different states of disarray.

"He will be down there somewhere, it's close to the water but in line with the sun so that he may sun himself during the day without going to far from his home" she said and I scanned the large crowd for anything out of the ordinary but I saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"How will he find him?" I asked still looking out for anything that could tip me off to his position, Thalia was looking around as well but I don't think she had any better luck than me.

"He needs to sneak up, act homeless, he will know him for he smells...different" she said with a grimace, ouch I guess different didn't mean good in any particular way.

"And once I find him?" Percy asked grouchily not looking all too thrilled with actually getting close to the large mass of people.

"Grab him, and don't let go no matter what he does, force him to tell you of the monster" she said with a glare at the group of homeless as Percy nodded.

"We got your back" Thalia said patting him on the shoulder before noticing something on his back and picking it off, she gave it an odd look before flicking it away.

"On second thought, I don't want your back...but I'll be rooting for you" she said stepping away from the wildly dressed demi-god.

I choked on a laugh that I managed to turn into a cough as he glared at me, I merely smiled back kindly as he shook his head and headed down grumbling about how nice it was having super-powerful friends. Watching him stumble around the dock like he was about to pass out was an odd experience as most of the other homeless either glared outright or shied away from him clutching onto their meager belongings as if something was just going to come out of the sky and snatch them up.

"I guess even homeless don't like outsiders" I muttered as I saw one of them snap at our demi-god.

"I bet he's gonna need our help in catching him" Thalia said crossing her arms, hmm I guess she was still a little sore with Percy for the comment on...Luke.

"Oh? I bet he'll be just fine" I said with a raised eyebrow as he passed a lady with a bunch of plastic pink flamingo stuffed in a shopping cart, mortals are odd.

"Care to make a wager?" she asked turning to face me, and that had to be the worst idea, betting with a demi-god of mischief and wit.

"Always up for a bet" I said spinning to look into her lovely eyes, and pursed lips...I know what I want.

"If Percy can catch Nereus without any of our intervention, I win and if we are forced to help in anyway then you win sound fair?" I asked leaning forward a bit as she thought about it before nodding.

"If I win, you have to refer to me as Queen Thalia for the rest of this quest" she said with a haughty air about her, oh Thalia, you're still playing kid games.

"Alright, but if I win then YOU have to kiss ME instead of the other way around" I said with a grin, she stared at me before her cheeks lit up just a little only barely visible before she rolled her eyes.

"Deal?" I asked holding out my hand and she took it with a grin of her own.

"This will be cake" she said turning to look at our demi-god and for once, I was rooting for someone other than me to pull off something amazing...I wasn't expecting anything stylish however.

We watched as he crept around the homeless scoping them out, it almost looked like none of them were the one we were looking for until he finally came upon one that was just laying in the sun seemingly asleep in the morning rays.

"I think we've got a winner" I said idly, noting the massively long white beard on the man and the generally disheveled appearance.

"Now he's just gotta catch him" Thalia said crossing her arms and watching intently as Percy slowly made his way over the man by the edge of the pier.

He sat down next to our target disturbing him slightly but Percy must have done something to ease his mind for he just rolled back over and ignored his existence, or so it seemed because when Percy made his move he quickly countered and began shouting for help when it was obvious that he was the one holding Percy.

Someone shouted about how that was a crime but I ignored it for the sake of watching Percy begin to roll down the pier, a tangle of limbs until Percy collided with a post...definitely not stylish.

"Maybe I should have gone down instead" I muttered with a slight wince, Thalia merely nodded trying to hold back a grin.

"Just start calling me your highness now" she said as Nereus made a break for the water, only for Percy to tackle him from behind, atta boy.

"Looks like he's not out of the game yet" I said with a grin.

"Did you guys really make a bet on this?" Lamb Chop asked with wide eyes, the others glancing from the struggle to look at us as well.

We merely shrugged at there gazes and returned to watching the grappling match between the demi-god and the old man of the sea, just in time to sea them both plunge into the water from the edge of the pier...clever boy.

"Is he okay?" Bianca asked stepping forward to take a closer look, which was rather pointless seeing as how we were a good fifty feet from the rather calm waves anyway.

That is until the killer whale shot from the depths of the water, and upon closer inspection our boy was latched onto the dorsal fin, he gave us a wave before reentering the water with a loud splash effectively leaving our sight.

"Not bad at all" I said with a nod, because you've got to give credit where credit is due.

 **Holy shit, It's been a while huh? Had to go through training to get my CDL so I am officially a trucker.**

 **Picked up a laptop so the story should continue as normal, will be finished with the book soon.**

 **Glad to be back, and remember Read, Review, Flame it's all love to me.**

 **Vonstein Signing off.**


	17. Seventeen, Sea Cows, and 100 Heads

**Disclaimer, I own nothing but some plot elements and my characters. All rights go towards Rick Riordan.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 17**

 **Sea Cows, and One Hundred Heads**

You know I'm actually quite shocked by the outcome of the bet, despite my outward appearance of confidence I honestly thought that I was going to have to add a little bit of...insurance to tilt the scales in my favor but Percy did perfectly fine on his own. We managed to track down the Demi-god of the sea and the old man of the sea lying there under a pier covered in shops, like a mall over water which was precarious but rather fancy at the same time, I approve.

We headed down the steps towards the beach as Zoe rushed forward an honestly shocked look replacing her usual scowl.

"You caught him!" she exclaimed and he shot her an exasperated look.

"Don't have to sound so surprised" he grumbled in return as the rest of the group made their way up to him bar Thalia and I of course.

I glanced over at Thalia sporting a large grin.

"I hate you" she muttered looking anywhere but me.

"Of course you do my queen" I said and she glared.

"You only had to ask, I am more than happy to change your pet names to fit royalty" I chuckled.

I didn't get shocked this time something I am grateful for, but I did learn that she can hit quite hard when she wants too if my arm has any say in the matter.

"Oh how wonderful! An audience to witness my humiliation, the normal deal I suppose? I answer your question and you let me go?" Nereus asked with a glare that would have been mighty had it not looked more like a pout.

"I have more than one question!" Percy exclaimed but Nereus shook his head violently, spraying water everywhere in the process unfortunately.

"One question per capture, those are the rules!" he refused resolutely, I nodded slightly and a couple of invisible clones came into existence at the ready for when he inevitably darted.

"That's fine, seems rather reasonable" I said before anyone else could get a word in, Percy looked at me surprised but I shrugged.

"go ahead and ask a question Percy" I encouraged, Thalia eyed me oddly but I sent a wink her way causing a grin to grace her features.

"Yeah Percy go ahead" she agreed, he looked at everyone else but they were too busy sending odd looks my way, so he took a few moments until he decided.

"Alright, where can we find this terrible creature, the one that Artemis was hunting?" He asked resolutely.

Nereus gained a sly grin, one that I had to scoff at due to the fact that he thought he could pull a fast one on me of all people, everyone's going to learn sooner or later that it's just inevitable that I'll outsmart you.

"Oh, that's too easy! He's right there" he said with glee as he pointed at the water.

"Where?" Percy asked looking away and that's when he made his move.

"The deal is complete!" he shouted before a pop sounded and he changed into a goldfish of all things, that I was not expecting but luckily my clones were standing behind him so when he tried to backflip into the sea... he merely landed into the waiting palm of none other than myself.

He flailed around for a moment but before he could figure out what was going on my clone tossed him away from the sea towards my other clone. He morphed back into his human state mid air but soon found himself wrapped up in bright green chains when he hit the ground.

"What!? That's cheating!" he roared as he wiggled around in the sand, giving me a rather accurate vision of a walrus caught in a net.

"No adding rules now, you merely said one question per capture, you never said we had to give you a head start" I said calmly walking up to him.

"Now for MY question" I said as my clones pulled there daggers and placed them at his throat, just in case he wanted to try and back out of this deal, he scanned the area but saw that it was impossible to escape so with a scowl he slumped.

"What's your question?" he asked grumpily and I nodded ready to ask-

MOOOOO!

Okay, what?

I turned around bewildered at the sound of a cow in San Francisco, only to see the most adorable looking creature floating in the water. I've had this feeling once before, I could feel my priorities shifting...NO! I have to focus, hug the creature later I shook my head and refocused on Nereus.

"Alright so where can I find Artemis?" I asked and he growled in defiance.

"Another easy one, your little immortal friend has the answer" he said, and I nodded as I'm pretty sure he means the scowly one, not the slightly air headed one.

"Alright" I said and just like that the chains dispersed along with my clones, he took no time at all darting back to the sea but not without sending me one last glare. I merely shot him a grin before turning around to behold that adorable sea cow thing.

"I'm such an idiot" Zoe growled to herself as I walked past her, well there we go acceptance is the first step in fixing a problem.

"Hey you said it not me" I replied walking up to the creature and ignoring her groan of irritation.

"Hey there little guy" I said soothingly as I noticed his trembling, he looked me in the eyes and I guess he liked what he saw because with a light noise he placed his head in my outstretched hand.

While I was petting the adorable creature much to Thalia's amusement if that small smile was anything to go by I listened in as Zoe told the tale of the story she heard about the War of the Titans and how this cow serpent was not going to destroy Olympus. He was merely a catalyst for the destruction, I scowled because father has told me of the power that comes from sacrificing innocence, Thalia gazed at the cow serpent in wonder.

"The power to take down the gods, how?" she asked but Zoe shook her head.

"No one knows, an ally of the Titans during the war came close to completing the ritual but before the entrails could be tossed into the fire and the power to kill the gods was born Zeus sent down an eagle to steal them, that was over 3000 years ago and now the Ophiotaurus is reborn" she finished.

Thalia sat down on the edge of the dock stairs and held her hand out, I let the creature head over to her with me in tow as she placed her hand upon his head. He shivered from the contact, but I kept my eye on Thalia but more importantly that look in her eye, a look that I recognized, the hunger for power. It looks like Zeus passed down a bit more than just his power over the skies.

I caught her eye and shook my head slightly, she snatched her hand away from the Ophiotaurus who I shall now refer to as Timmy like she was burned. Once again I wished my father was here, because if anyone knew the outcome of taking out a Pantheon it was him, he never explained to me why he reversed what he did but I do know that if it was a strong enough reason for him of all things to change his mind...it was everything but good.

It appeared that I wasn't the only one to see the look either.

"We have to protect him, if Luke ever gets a hold of him" Percy trailed off looking at Thalia, and once again that name was said within hearing distance, I want to kill something now.

"Luke wouldn't hesitate" Thalia muttered.

Hatred rising.

"The power to overthrow Olympus, that's...that's huge" she finished shaking her head.

There's gotta be something around here to kill.

"Yes it is my dear" a very recognizable drawl sounded and I couldn't help but let my smile widen, just what I needed, a volunteer.

I turned to stare down the one that got away, good old Dr. Thorn.

"Luckily for us, it is a power that you shall unleash" he finished staring at Thalia in a way that just made the idea of killing him slowly that much more appealing.

"Dr. Thorn! What a lovely surprise! I don't know who this General guy is but I must thank him for this bea-u-tiful present he has bestowed upon me~" I sang pulling a dagger with my right hand.

I noticed the two mortal mercenaries flanking him as well as the two up on the pier with their rifles aimed right at us, obviously thinking they could stop me from doing what I really want to do. It's too bad they can't see the unseen or the two clones standing behind them would have been blatantly obvious but that's okay, if I'm anything it's a good sport, so I'll humor them before crushing any hope they have of winning this little skirmish.

"Oh please Doctor, do go on but before you do I would like to ask, how's the tail?" I asked with a tilt of my head my dagger twirling around my fingers in a very nonchalant, but very threatening manner, Thorn scowled harshly.

"You think your so great don't you Vonstein, but from where I stand it looks like you haven't gotten this far unscathed if that arm of yours is any indication" he shot back but I shrugged.

"I don't mind it much, because as you can see I got a new one, and I must say it's a very good replacement" I chuckled letting my arm roar to life putting the mercenaries on high alert as every single one of them retrained there guns on me, good everyone should pay attention to me because I'm about to be absolutely stunning.

"However, i'ts not me you should be worrying about" Thorn continued though I noticed him eyeing my new arm warily.

"It's your little girlfriend that will be the catalyst for our grand plans" he finished glancing at Thalia, I didn't take my eyes off the little annoyance.

"oh? And how is that going to happen if you don't mind me asking?" I asked eyes narrowing.

"Surely you can see what great a chance this is! This is your moment, the reason why Lord Kronos brought you back to life, you will sacrifice the beast, gain unlimited power and for your sixteenth birthday you will overthrow Olympus" he ranted a glint of insanity sparking in his eyes.

"Thalia" I said sternly, filing away that brought back to life bit for later questioning.

"I suggest you not listen to the dead man walking, dead men tell no tales" I finished with a growl.

"The only dead man walking here is you, she will listen to me because if she does then she can finally be reunited with her dear Luke, he's already seen the outcome of this story, and he chose the winning side. Just think of the possibilities! You and Luke ruling under the auspice of the Titans, because what have the gods done for you besides bring you pain and sorrow?" He asked and I didn't need to look back to see the conflict taking place in Thalia.

"Thalia, listen to me" I said loudly, because this was definitely not happening on my watch.

"Destroying a pantheon is not something you want on your conscience, I should know because my father has done it before and look what he did, he brought it all back. This isn't even something you should be thinking about because it's stupid, and you're not stupid I know you aren't" I said before glancing at my clones, and with that everything sparked off at once.

The dying gasps of the mercenaries up on the pier sounded out as daggers pierced their jugulars, the sound of a small explosion going off as I punched the ground sending up a smokescreen of sand. Everyone dived to the sides as bullets punched through the screen but they missed by miles, I blasted through the sand faster than they could react and before Thorn and his men could say damn I was upon them.

The sound of bones breaking filled my ears when I landed a solid punch on one mercenaries chest, he died with a gasp at the same time as the other when I threw my dagger into his head, his helmet did nothing to protect him as the knife slid through like it was butter. I pulled my dagger back with a chain as I squared off with Thorn.

"Everyone protect Timmy!" I yelled as Thorn burst from his skin revealing his true form and much to my surprise his tail was regrown.

"Who's Timmy?" Lamb Chop asked and I groaned.

"The gods damned Ophiotaurus!" I yelled before spinning to my left letting the poisoned spikes fly by.

"I'll enjoy killing you" Thorn growled before lunging at me.

"You'll die trying" I returned doing the same, with a roll I felt him fly over me so I quickly spun and let my dagger fly the chain materializing and once again it wrapped around his tail.

"Not again you irritant!" he roared swinging his tail with all his might lifting me off the ground, I spun with it and smoothly landed on his back as he began to buck and flail.

I raised my left fist noting that four out of six runes still blazed hotly and smirked, with a roar I slammed it down as hard as I could right into his spine. The light from the explosion blinded me and the shockwave lifted me clear off his back, I must have gained serious air time because it took a bit before I hit the ground and it did not feel good whatsoever.

I laid there just listening to the screams of the surrounding tourists and the ringing that filled my ears, I honestly didn't feel like opening my eyes because this sand was surprisingly soft and I was very tired at the moment, that seemed to be a running theme on this quest.

"Alfred!" I heard Thalia call and then I felt the sand shift as she slid next to me.

"Yeah, yeah I'm alright, but before I open my eyes...do I still have all of my body parts?" I asked only to feel another jolt that had me sitting up in an instant.

"Right, too soon" I said shaking my head, I felt the sand leave my hair and knew it was going to be there until I got a good shower, I hate this quest. I opened my eyes and gaped.

It was quite easy to tell how far I flew because about 15 feet in front of me was a crater of glass that was easily 5 feet deep and around 9 feet wide, and not a single bit of Manticore could be seen. It seemed like my arm was only getting stronger as time went on which I found deeply satisfying.

"Well then, we should probably get moving" I said as Thalia helped me to my feet.

"At this point I think it's safe to say that the police think we're terrorists" Percy said staring at the crater.

"Exactly which is why we need to be leaving" I said dusting off my clothes.

"But we don't even know where we're going!" Lamb Chop exclaimed throwing his arms up in the air.

"Wait what did Nereus say?" Bianca asked looking over at me and I shrugged.

"So where are we headed Zoe?" I asked staring her down, she shook her head confused.

"Why would I know? Unless" she stopped and grew very pale very fast.

"Oh well that's not a good look" I said with a sigh, she turned and gazed past the golden gate bridge towards a single mountain that pierced the sky.

"We'll never make it" she said and I shook my head.

"Oh we'll make it, I just want to know what's up there" I said crossing my arms.

"The garden of my sisters, my home" she said eyes downcast, not a good look on her.

"Well, nothing like a good old family reunion, I'll get the truck and we'll be on our way" I said cheerily motioning for Thalia to follow, we walked in silence until the truck came into view when I stopped her.

"Are you alright?" I asked and she looked away, clearly ashamed of what transpired earlier.

"I-I almost" she fell silent and I nodded.

"Well you didn't and that's all that matters, however next time, let's not take that long to decide huh? Scared me back there" I said with a chuckle, she sighed and shook her head.

"Don't worry, just know that if you ever begin to doubt yourself again, I'll be there to keep your head in the game, because I'm thoughtful like that" I said wrapping my arm around her shoulders. Her elbow dug into my side before she chuckled and wrapped her arm around my waist, my grin merely grew because damn you just can't get as good as me.

We ran into another problem, we needed to get Timmy back to Camp Half-Blood.

"If we can get him back to camp, then Chiron could help us get him to Olympus" Lamb Chop said, it was yet another good idea take the most important piece in the game out of the game.

"How would he know where he's going? He's been following me this entire time" Percy said gaining a thoughtful expression.

"I-I can show him, I'll just go with him" he said and that did it, name card regained.

"Grover, bringing you on this quest was possibly one of my best ideas" I said placing my hand on his shoulder he smiled with a thanks.

"The blessing of the wild" he said kneeling down next to Timmy, who nuzzled him affectionately.

"That should help with safe passage, Percy you should pray to your dad as well see if he could help us along the way" Grover said, Percy nodded and stared out at sea asking his father for aid in our endeavor, until Thalia informed us that a request that big would require a sacrifice... something big.

Percy was at a loss because he didn't have anything on him that could be offered up, Thalia looked down at the coat of the Nemean Lion and went to take it off but I knew that we were coming upon the last stages of the quest and more than likely the deadliest so we needed as much help as we could get. I stopped her.

"Why are you stopping me? This should be enough" she said but I shook my head.

"I'm not taking any chances, the protections on that thing may prove to be needed in what comes next" I said stepping forward.

I noticed Zoe's foul expression as she glanced at the coat, but right now her hatred of Hercules was not important.

"I've got something better" I said pulling the dagger meant for my left hand, everyone's eyes grew wide.

"Whoa are you sure?" Grover asked stepping forward.

"This dagger was used by a god in a war to end all wars, then it was passed down to me, but I can no longer use it in my left hand so this is the best thing I can think of" I said shaking my head.

"Father's going to kill me" I muttered stepping forward.

"Poseidon, I'm giving this to you for safe passage in your seas, guide my companion to Camp Half-Blood" I said with a glare at the calm waves.

Taking a deep breath I let the blade fall from my hand and into the water where it promptly disappeared in a flash of golden light. For a moment it felt like I just let a part of myself die but I shook it off.

"Alright, let's get this going" I said and everyone nodded as Grover dived into the water with Timmy.

Recreating Air Loki was simple enough and Zoe took shotgun so that she may guide me towards our destination, it didn't take long before we were coming upon the mountain.

"Look!" Percy said as the rest of them gazed out of the left side of the ship.

"That's Luke's ship" he stated and I shook my head at the name popping up yet AGAIN!

Then I got the feeling that something was about to go very wrong and on pure instinct alone I threw the jet into an aileron roll. I heard Thalia scream but it was overshadowed by the crashing thunder as lightning shot down exactly where we would have been had I not executed the maneuver.

"We must land!" Zoe shouted but I was already headed for the ground, slowing down as we got closer the jet landed smoothly. Magic was the best thing ever, I let out a sigh before stepping out of the jet and regaining my arm and all fingers as the jet returned to the black van we took.

I let out a sigh and glared up at the sky as the clouds rolled and rumbled, I felt a tug on my shirt and turned to see Thalia pale and shaking. I didn't hesitate to wrap her in a hug.

"He just tried to kill me" she muttered, and I scowled _One Should Perish By a Parents Hand_ but that just didn't seem right unless I was missing something.

"There's no reason I see for Zeus to do that, it had to be Kronos because they seemed dead set on getting you over on their side, it's something I would do, make your father look even worse than he does now securing you to my side" I said rubbing her arms. She just took a deep breath.

"You don't know the original prophecy" she said quietly and I shook my head.

"That one you may have to explain to me but right now we need to get to wherever we're going, you good to go?" I asked and she nodded and when she opened her eyes I could see the determination shining through. Atta girl.

"Alright Zoe, lead the way" I said and she nodded before starting forward on a path up the mountain Bianca following quickly, Percy was eyeing Thalia but I got him moving with a motion of my hand. Thalia and I took up the rear and it took about an hour before we reached where we were supposed too, however Zoe stopped us as we came upon a literal wall of mist.

"I'm assuming this is the entrance to the Mythical part of the mountain" I said and she nodded.

"Come the entrance will appear soon" she said before stepping through the mist and disappearing.

The rest of us followed and the other side was drastically different, the grass was much longer, the road was merely a dirt path and it seemed like nature was flourishing in this area. Zoe didn't stop to admire the scenery though so we pushed on, a few moments later she stopped and I looked around at the rather beautiful scene in front of me a complete testament to what nature should look like if it weren't for the interference of mankind.

A meadow of thick foliage and shadows lay before us, it was awe inspiring and I would have felt completely at ease if I wasn't currently staring at the largest creature I've ever seen, it dwarfed the dragons that Father had me face in training. This thing was fierce looking, body as thick as an apartment building with scales of copper covering every inch of the creature, I guess it was a dragon but I've never seen a dragon have more heads than a hydra before.

Luckily for us it was snoozing peacefully wrapped around an extremely large tree in the middle of a flower coated clearing, obsidian stones created a natural pathway around both sides of the tree that was covered, and I mean covered in apples made of the purest gold.

"The apples of Immortality, Hera's wedding gift from Zeus" Thalia informed us as we gazed at the apples that glinted in the evening light.

Then came the singing, the very eerie, very off-putting singing that sounded very far away but at the same time like it was coming from right next to me.

"The hel?" I muttered placing my hand on the hilt of my dagger, Zoe shook her head as the others made to do the same, the shadows around us began to swirl and twist around as if alive until right before our eyes four figures shimmered into existence.

The four could pass off as clones of Zoe, though lacking the scowl that adorned her face most of the time, they wore pure white chitons that hung around their caramel colored skin.

"Sisters" Zoe said in greeting.

"We do not see a sister" one of them stated rather coldly.

"We see two half-bloods, a hunter, and a mere mortal all of whom shall soon die" she said.

Everyone glanced at me for the mortal comment and I guess the look on my face put them on edge because Zoe began shaking her head sadly before stepping back, more than likely remembering what happened when a goddess of all things called me that. I stepped forward a scowl replacing my usual smirk.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly" I said as their gazes shifted over to me.

"Now it sounds like you just called, me Alfred Loki Vonstein, son of Loki Ragnorak Odinson God of Trickery and Fire, and bringer of Ragnorak, the event that brought all of Asgard to its knees a fucking mortal" I growled. Their eyes widened marginally at the revelation of my heritage but I was so far from done.

"Now I've had the shittiest time getting here, so far I've turned the Nemean Lion into a coat, been chased down highways and subways by helicopters, almost trampled by a giant fucking boar, fought countless skeleton warriors, took down a giant bronze robot by the name of Talos, lost my gods damned arm in the process, captured Nereus, killed Dr. Thorn the fucking Manticore, and flew my happy ass up here" I took a breath replacing my smirk.

"Now I haven't been kicking asses from Camp Half-Blood all the way to the lovely city of San Francisco just to be called a mere mortal by a bunch of jumped up Greek pixies, so you've got two choices ahead of you right now, either you drop that holier than thou attitude and step aside so I can kick this General guys ass or you can sit there and get a taste of what everything else that's stood in my way has received" I finished with a growl.

By now those confident and serene faces and grown pale and weak in the face of my all consuming irritation with this fucking quest, so you can understand where I'm coming from when I say that it ends soon and it will end with our triumph, and there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it.

It was then they glanced behind them and I followed their gaze only to see the glittering eyes of the dragon staring us down.

"Fool" said the one that spoke before but I merely glared deep into her eyes and she shut up quickly.

"Make a run for it" I told them Thalia yelled her protest but I was not in the mood, I woke it up, I'll put it back to sleep.

"Thalia throw me your shield and run, I'll be right behind you I promise but please, please, please fucking run" I growled, I got worked up and got us into this particular situation so I feel completely justified when I say that I will get us out of it with zero chance of anyone else getting hurt.

We had a mini staring contest and I silently pleaded with her to just listen to me and trust that I mean what I say, luckily she relented and tossed her shield at me, I caught it with my golden hand and eyed the runes as it roared to life, so far only two runes had charged and I wasn't going to waste them on an overgrown lizard.

"You want to tango big guy? Let's dance then!" I yelled gaining its undivided attention, It roared as I stepped in it's space and the smell was vicious, if pure concentrated death had a smell I'm sure it would smell a hundred times more pleasant than this things breath.

One of the countless heads of the beast snapped down but I quickly lunged to the side letting it get a mouthful of air, I threw the shield as hard as I could and it bounced off of the head that wanted to take a piece out of the son of Loki, it shot back into my hand as the head reeled from the blow.

"Come on then! Keep up will you!" I roared as all eyes glared fiercely but before they could react to the challenge I rushed forward.

I may not kill this thing but I'll make for damn sure it remembers this day for the rest of its life, I whipped my dagger from it's holster and proceeded to unload countless slashes at anything within reach, the large body that shifted to and fro as the heads writhed above waiting for a clear shot.

I kept moving making sure that if a chance did present itself to my opponent that it would be fleeting and calculated so that I could properly counter, while my attacks obviously weren't causing any serious damage they definitely caused discomfort and it was agitating the multi headed beast.

The dragon rose and recoiled letting out a mighty roar that shook the earth around us, a massive clawed hand came around my blind side but with a twist I let the shield take the brunt of the blow and flew through the air. With a flip I landed back on my feet whipping my left arm out feeling the satisfying pop as my shoulder popped back into it's proper place.

I flashed forward again but it was ready for me and a couple of the heads shot down to snap me up mid run. It didn't expect me to jump and land on one of the thick necks once again bouncing the shield off another head, I was pissing it right the Hel off and I loved every second of it. The head I struck roared mightily once again and with complete disregard for my current position it shot forward as fast it could.

I saw my chance and I took it with glee, flipping off my current perch I let its large sharp teeth slice through the neck I was previously occupying. Realising it's mistake it made to rip its teeth from its own neck but the damage was done as when it finally managed to free itself the head let out a weak cross between roar and moan before completely separating from the rest of its body, crashing down with a mighty sound that shook the ground around it.

The roar the rest of the heads let out was so much louder than before as it retreated back to the tree the other heads covering the stump that remained. The many eyes glared down but I met them with a glare of my own, challenging, daring the beast to try again but it did not, for I had won this round, I turned to the severed head. Still bleeding, a thick dark purple fluid that seemed to burn away all it touched.

Then right before my eyes it began to shrink reminding me of the Nemean lion when it perished, it continued to shrink and change until all that was left was a single finger less glove covered in the scales that adorned the dragons hide. It glinted in the light and I replaced my dagger and grabbed it, slipping it on my right hand I locked eyes with the dragon once more before turning to glare at the four sisters who stood transfixed eyes wide and so pale they nearly matched Thalia's complexion.

"That's one more ass kicking delivered" I said resolutely before turning on my heel and making my way towards the group whose eyes switched between staring at the dragon then back to me, I returned Thalia's shield as she just stared.

"That felt good" I said with a nod before motioning for Zoe to lead the way once again, she blinked once, twice, before nodding in return and once again taking the lead not saying a single word.

All in all I personally think that fight went a lot better than I was expecting, but who was I took look a gift horse in the mouth? Even when all that gift horse did was remind me of just how amazing I really am.

 **I'm back from my little break, and don't worry I went ahead and finished the story so all I have to do is break it up into chapters, edit, then upload.**

 **thanks for those of you that stuck around as well as those that recently favorited and followed, honestly means a lot.**

 **So as always Read, Flame, Review, it's all love in my book.**

 **Alfred Vonstein signing out.**


	18. Eighteen, Alfred, and The Titans Wrath

**Disclaimer, I own nothing but some plot elements and my characters. All rights go towards Rick Riordan.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 18**

 **The Prince of Tricks and the Titans Wrath**

There was no song when we left and the shadows no longer moved as we made our way up the mountain once again, in fact everyone was silent and it was frankly creeping me out.

"Okay will someone say something? You're starting to freak me out" I said looking at every one in turn, was it the dragon? It's not the first one I've killed...well it was the first outside of training but that's neither here nor there.

"Do, do you not realize what you just accomplished?" Zoe stuttered out eyes wide and staring, so it was the dragon.

"I kicked a dragons ass so?" I asked with a shrug, was it some sort of super dragon?

"That just wasn't any old dragon Al" Thalia whispered, well this should be interesting.

"That was Ladon, one of the fiercest creatures ever known, the one that Hercules himself couldn't defeat head on" she said urgently, really? Wow that's definitely special I looked down at the copper scaled glove that covered my right hand then back the way we came.

"Oh...well shit" I said placing my hands on my hips and shaking my head, I wasn't really expecting that level of special, how did I not remember that name? I read the Hercules legends.

"I actually was not aware of that" I said with a nod, the things we do without realizing, truly spectacular if I do say so myself.

"You, you've just made Greek history and that's all you have to say?" Zoe asked, and I shrugged because even if I did know, the most it would have done was made me more willing to fight it, probably try and kill it too just as a fuck you to the Greek pantheon.

"Honestly the fact that I got you to stop speaking like Shakespeare seems like a bigger accomplishment over showing a puffed up lizard whose boss" I said idly.

Silence reigned once more, until finally without warning laughter, pure unadulterated laughter spilled forth from Zoe, bent over at the waist holding her sides she just let it all out and laughed. It wasn't long until everyone began to join her, it didn't matter what we were about to face, or what dangers we had left behind because for some reason seeing her finally lighten up after all this time spent, I felt like this was the first true accomplishment I've made on this quest bar Thalia.

"You are truly one of a kind Alfred, and I-I am truly grateful that the fates decided for you to aid us in this quest" Zoe said finally staring me right in the eye, well that's a twist, I knew I was irresistible.

"Yeah you've really kept us all together" Bianca added.

"I don't know what would've happened had you never been at the academy" Percy said with a shake of his head, D'aww shucks.

Finally I felt a hand grip my arm and spin me around, I wasn't ready for Thalia to grab me by the collar and smash our lips together in a kiss that I must say left my knees weak. It felt like every part of my body was coursing with electricity and once it was over I could do nothing but stare into those impossibly bright blue eyes that sparked with an intensity I had never seen before in my entire life.

"That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen" she whispered, and I smiled, wider than I had ever before, only to have my head snap to the side and take a couple steps back as she hit me with a MEAN right hook.

"I SWEAR if you ever do something so fucking stupid again I will hit you with a bolt of lightning so powerful you'll think you were four years old do you understand me!" she yelled, now that's a woman praise you and scold all in the same moment, what a wonder my Thalia is.

"I promise, that's the last time I'll do something like that again" I said softly and she nodded.

"Good! So what are we waiting for? Let's finish this" she said and with that everyone nodded new life and determination filling the air as we gazed towards the top ready to kick some ass and finally head home.

We came upon the top of the mountain and it was covered in what appeared to be the ruins of a massive city, black marble and granite half destroyed yet still towered near the height of Talos, what once looked to be humongous bronze statues lie half melted and toppled.

"Damn someone sure did a number on this place" I said gazing at the ruined area, looked like a hurricane wielding an iron bat came through here.

"These are the ruins of Mount Othrys" Thalia said in awe, mount what? How did she even pronounce that, I don't think I could even spell that.

"Yes, but it was never here before, this proves to be bad" Zoe said with a frown, some explanations are needed right about now I think.

"Is that supposed to mean something?" I asked prodding a fallen granite black with my shoe.

She explained that in the beginning apparently this place and Olympus were the two rival capitals of the war, obviously that is no longer the case as Olympus is still standing strong and this place...well not so much.

"However you seem surprised that it's here, mind explaining that?" I asked trying to make sense of one of the destroyed statues, don't know what it looked like before but it looks like a duck now.

"It always exists on the edge of civilization much like Olympus but the fact that it now resides here on this mountain of all places speaks of dire events" she said ominously, was that supposed to answer anything? What's so special about this mountain besides the name?

"Okay, riddles are fun and all Zoe, but why is this place so bad?" I asked and she shot me a glare that lacked any heat whatsoever.

"Because this is Atlas's mountain, the place where he holds up the sky" she said before paling rapidly and staring forward, now that wasn't a good look.

I found the reason for the staring soon after and it was a pretty good one too for at the summit of the mountain there lied a massive amount of dark clouds all converging and swirling around each other. They slowly spiraled down to touch the tip of the mountain and they would was it not for the young auburn haired girl that knelt between them.

Chained to the ground, sweaty, weary and weak knelt none other than Artemis, and when I tell you she didn't look good I mean every word.

"Lady Artemis!" Zoe shouted rushing forward to aid her patron goddess, this is a trap.

"Stop! It is a trap, you must leave now!" She shouted at us desperately, called it! Not that Zoe seemed to be listening as she made for the chains binding the goddess to stone, at a speed that honestly caught me off guard.

Tears ran down her cheeks as she tugged and cut at the chains to no avail.

"Aw, how touching" a voice boomed from the rear and I turned to stare down the group now standing where we had came from.

Everyone drew their weapons but I chose to simply stare at the man that oozed power, he was tall and his broad features looked to be chiseled from the same material as the ruins that surrounded us. He was bald and his dark eyes washed over us with disdain like we were nothing but ants, his brown pin striped suit was crisp and clean and somehow, I don't know how but I just knew that this was what I had to face.

This had to be Atlas, the General or whatever he wished to be called, there was another standing next to him a young man, blonde and ragged, he looked like he had foregone sleep for a startlingly long period of time. Bags under dulled blue eyes, his skin drawn and pale, he looked like he was handsome at some point but whatever stress he was under completely overrode that notion.

Standing at their sides were what looked to be the cross between lizards and women, long black hair cascading down their backs and staring resolutely forward with bright golden eyes slit much like a lizard, they bore weapons large and foreboding and were currently holding up a large golden sarcophagus of all things.

"Luke" Thalia growled and the blonde smiled weakly, now that caught my attention.

"Thalia, it's good to see you again" ah so this was the one that was going to meet the business end of my blade how lovely.

Thalia spat at him, of all the things I thought she would do that was definitely not one of them, atta girl.

"So much for old friends, and you Zoe my little traitor it's been such a long time, how are you? I'll enjoy killing you the most" Atlas said jovially, a dark sneer crossing his features, yeah that was about enough I've never been ignored for so long before.

"So you're the person I have to thank" I said stepping forward, he looked at me with a raised brow actually everyone looked at me in turn making me once again the center of attention, as it should be.

"Yeah, thanks for sending Dr. Thorn my way, it was very irritating that he managed to escape me the last time we met but you went ahead and saved me the trouble of finding the little Manticore, I was planning on bringing a fruit basket for your trouble but you know how these things go, it's always rush, rush, rush" I said waving my hand.

He narrowed his eyes obviously off put by my rather casual way of addressing him, more than likely about to spout something along the lines of how dare you speak to me like that?

"And who are you to speak to me in such a fashion mortal?" he asked, I gave an exaggerated sigh, almost word for word.

"Okay I know you know better, I mean haven't you been watching us? Please tell me how a mere mortal of all things could make his way all the way up here? It's not exactly a leisurely stroll through the park big guy" I said with a chuckle. He sneered, and Luke didn't exactly look comfortable being near him at this point.

"No, the names Alfred Loki Vonstein, son of Loki yadda yadda yadda, and I'm here because a prophecy decided that I needed to make my way up here and proceed to kick your teeth in, now doesn't that sound fun?" I asked, I heard Thalia groan and Artemis yelled at me not to challenge him but I had my eyes on the prize.

"Congratulations mortal, it is normally below an immortal to kill a mortal directly but I think I'll make an exception just this once" he growled, oh now we're getting somewhere, and not even an evil monologue? I could get behind that.

"Atta boy, now personally I'm done with all the talking and threats, so everyone get ready for a fight" I said with a crack of my neck, this was going to be one hell of a fight.

"Wait!" Luke yelled, and everyone stopped, was it too much to hope for?

"Thalia, Thalia please you don't have to fight us" he pleaded and I groaned, were we really doing this now?

"Thalia you can still make this right, just call the Ophiotaurus it will come to you just look!" he yelled pointing over towards a large black marble basin filled with water, I swear that wasn't there before, he kept that pleading look on his face but Thalia just shook her head.

"Thalia just call the Ophiotaurus, and you will be more powerful than the gods" he said, by father this man was persistent and it was frankly getting on my nerves.

"Luke, what happened to you?" Thalia asked voice choked with pain that irritated me to no end, it just made me wonder what my chances would have been if this bastard never went dark, I shook my head to rid myself of those useless thoughts, head in the game.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten all those times we used to talk, how we cursed the gods for the fate that they gave us, how they left us to fend for ourselves, they've done nothing for us! They have no right to rule this world!" he yelled but Thalia rejected his claims and desperate words.

"If you join me it would be just like old times, just us, fighting for a better world" he continued but I would be lying if I said I wasn't sick of this guy.

"Okay that's enough! Listen man, no means no" I growled before looking at Atlas, someone had to be on my side when I say this.

"You can't tell me you aren't tired of hearing this man talk" I said and he scowled, whether at the way I addressed him or at the useless pile of skin next to him I didn't know.

"I'm loathe to agree but I do find all this talk grating on the nerves" he said shooting a glance at Blondie when he was about to speak once again, he quickly shut up but didn't stop giving Thalia pleading looks, I sighed in sweet relief.

"Thank you, glad to know we agree, so how about we just skip on over to beating each other senseless?" I asked drawing my blade, his grin was large and wicked.

"An acceptable idea" he said as a large gnarled spear appeared in his hand, it looked to be made from wood but it was the color of rusting metal and ugly weapon to be sure but it did have a rather intimidating aura, his suit quickly morphed into full Greek battle armor as he spread his arms.

"I should warn you however, that the odds are stacked against you" he said with a dark sneer as he pointed that large spear down the mountain.

I glanced over but that was all I needed to confirm that they had some serious reinforcements on the way, hundreds of monsters and demi-gods alike were headed up this way and I honestly didn't like our chances.

"No way" Percy said as he and the others stared down at the mass wave of enemies, and he was spot on because there was absolutely no way we would win if we had to beat Atlas, save Artemis, AND fight off an army at the same time we had to get this over with fast.

"We end this now! Thalia you got Blondie, Percy, Zoe, Bianca get rid of those serpent warriors, I've got the big guy" I said making sure everyone knew what they had to do and to do it quick as they could, Atlas laughed mightily.

"Well, go on then!" he challenged pointing his spear at me, the fight was on.

We stalked towards one another and met in the middle, he let out a swift strike with the shaft of his spear but I merely let it glide over me with a lean before taking a swipe at him, he bat the dagger aside with dexterity that didn't fit his large frame.

His foot rose but I spun and felt the force of the air pass me by, I swung for the opening in his armor at the knee joint only to lean back once more when his spear shot for my chest.

Things began to speed up, and I quickly realized that I was on the defensive, with every attack he made I managed to dodge or redirect it, but every counter I tried was met with stark defense.

I shot down and aimed for a sweep only to hit nothing but air when he jumped and stabbed his spear down, I quickly rolled as it pierced the place my head used to be, I got to my feet and unleashed a flurry of swipes at every opening in his armor but it was no use.

It was only a matter of time before one of us made a mistake and sad to say I was the first to slip up, I felt the air force itself from my lungs as the shaft of his spear slammed into my stomach and tossed me across the field, I rolled and hopped back to my feet ready for a follow up but he merely stalked slowly over.

"I will admit, your skill overshadows many other "heroes" I've heard of but it's still useless to fight" he said with a spin of his spear, compliments would get you nowhere big guy.

"I don't know, I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve" I said rolling my shoulders, he's a bit stronger than what I imagined but if he thinks this is a one on one he is sorely mistaken.

"You cannot win child, you must run" I heard Artemis plead from behind me but I shook my head without taking my eyes off Atlas.

"Don't you worry, I'll get you out of there in a moment, just worry about not getting crushed" I said, alright it was time to get fancy, I rushed him and he let out a bellow of a laugh as he got ready.

I leaped into the air and spun aiming a kick at his head, he dodged it expertly but let out a roar of pain before my other foot caught him in the side of the skull sending him reeling. I landed and smirked as my clone came up beside me, he turned and glared hard but I shrugged.

"Yeah it's my turn" I said before we both rushed him this time.

We unleashed hell upon the titan, flurry after flurry, blow after blow we put everything into the offensive but he still managed to keep up only receiving small cuts and blows that barely connected. He was good, but I still had more to give, one more clone appeared and that's when I saw him begin to falter, we were a whirlwind of blades, a hurricane of death never staying in the same spot for more than a split second.

But for each cut, and every blow landed he seemed to get faster and more vicious, and with a roar he perfectly countered one of my clones spearing him through the chest and bringing his spear back in time to block our strikes. I replaced it quickly and kept the pressure on, but the longer the fight went the less ground he lost, until we couldn't even push him back a step, his swings were getting harder and harder to see much less react too.

This was tipping once again in his favor, three attacks was met with two counters, he allowed my attack through just to get rid of my clones his grin was one of triumph as he spun his spear quickly and knocked the blade from my hand.

Shit this was going wrong again, his weapon was already headed for my chest but I went for a rather risky move in hindsight, I shot my upper body back as far as I could letting my hands meet the earth as the spear missed. My legs shot up one foot colliding with his jaw while my other leg bent over the extended spear, and in that split second where his mind was focused on the blow to his jaw I ripped the spear from his grasp and sent it tumbling behind me as I completed the flip.

I immediately ducked a powerful hay-maker and snapped out two quick jabs to his sternum before backing up to catch my bearings, the strikes didn't bother him much because he was on me without hesitation. This was now a battle of fists and on the plus side he found it very hard to hit me, on the down side I found hitting him meant almost nothing.

Lean back, a quick right transfers into a weave to avoid a devastating body shot only to return with a hard right, he shook it off faster than I expected and I felt his massive hands wrap around my biceps, I hopped up and kicked him twice, sternum to jaw and he let me go. This left me in a false sense of security as I found out not moments later when I felt his boot plant itself firmly in my chest, followed by the feeling of flight then the abrupt stop as my back cratered into one of the marble ruins.

My vision swam for a moment but I still had enough wits about me to lean away from the incoming fist aimed for my precious face, I heard more than saw his fist blast out the backside of the wall but I didn't have much time to imagine my face if it connected for I had to duck in order to avoid another strike that left a similar hole in the wall behind me.

I heard my left arm roar to life as I planted a fist firmly into his midsection and he actually flew back quite far only to roll and hop back to his feet only now sporting a still smoking scorched dent in his armor, it was a small blast and just as I'd hoped did nothing to dull the bright burning of the runes on my arm.

"Alright big guy, round two" I said cracking my neck before planting my fist firmly into the metal palm of my other hand, he merely smirked and began to stalk forward where we met in the middle once more.

We both swung when we got in range and our fists collided, the tremor from the mutual blow shook the ground and actually cratered the earth beneath us, I reared back to strike again but had to quickly throw up my arm to block the left hook, it wasn't the gold arm and no it did not feel good. I now know what it feels like to have the bones within your body actually rattle, but just before the pain grew blinding I felt that heavenly chill creep through my veins once again, I glanced at my arm and noticed the blue tint once again.

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth I shot out a right and when it connected he actually staggered, it would seem that this transformation does a bit more than block out pain and stem serious bleeding, my sight was clearer and I was definitely faster as well as stronger if what I'm seeing is correct. The fight now resembled more of a battle of attrition, neither of us backed down and we each took what the other had to offer with reckless abandon, textbook fisticuffs.

It was only after we exchanged another ground shaking collision this time our fists meeting the others faces that we recalled our weapons, they appeared with a thought and the battle continued, this time with the ringing sound of metal colliding over and over filling the field.

This battle was taking way too long and I was getting reckless in my assault if the various new cuts littering my body were anything to go by, and while I had a feeling that my enchanted clothing wouldn't do much to stop that gnarled spear it was still rather irritating to see it actually do nothing when hit by it.

My latest mistake came when I didn't keep a good mind when it came to magic usage for when I tried to bring another clone into existence in order to gain the upper hand in this little battle I stumbled a bit when nothing came to my aid, my guard was down for a split second but that was all Atlas needed to aim a perfect stab towards my chest.

I shifted but the attack swung wide, he roared in pain and anger as a silver arrow poked from his shoulder right at the opening of the armor where a wound was already placed. Zoe stood resolutely across the way the serpent warriors dead at their feet, taking advantage of his momentary lapse I spun and landed a beautiful jumping roundhouse to the side of his face.

I landed on my feet but received a boot to the chest which had me sprawling, I saw stars for a moment when my back once again met merciless marble but noticed that he was no longer aiming for me, he was rushing Zoe. Shit gotta get up now, I thought to myself and got to my feet I stumbled quite a bit but shook it off before giving chase.

He was absurdly fast for his size as he plowed across the battlefield, absolutely obliterating anything in his way, ruin walls and all, Zoe and Bianca fired rapidly but he swat them from the air with rapid twirls and spins from his spear never breaking stride once. Percy hopped in his way and they clashed for a second before he was smacked aside, I ran faster.

The two girls rolled from his downward strike when he reached their position and while he may have missed a fissure grew across the area from the impact of his weapon, this guy was absolutely pissed, he aimed straight for Zoe leaving Bianca to fire at his back but they either bounced off or he ignored them completely.

I was almost there he swung once, twice forcing Zoe to dodge then roll out of the way, this was a trap as he quickly spun the spear into a reverse grip, I had one chance I threw my hand out begging, no forcing my magic to do my bidding and with no small amount of effort a clone appeared already throwing his dagger and bright green chain.

It just barely managed to wrap around his arm as he thrust back, he completely overpowered my clone but it was enough.

 _One Should Perish by a Parents Hand,_ yeah well should isn't quite good enough if I had anything to say about it.

He completed the thrust, Zoe let out a gasp and the taste of metal filled my mouth as pain flared up in my chest, Atlas turned and grinned as his spear sat snugly in my chest cavity. Zoe backed up and it sounded like the field went silent, I could only hear the blood rushing in my ears and the rapid beating of my heart.

"How pointless, you merely bought my traitorous daughter a bit more time" he growled, I heart Artemis shout in defiance, which more than likely caught the attention of everyone else because various shouts of my name rang out.

I glanced over at Percy and saw his position wide eyed next to Artemis, we locked eyes and I glanced over at the chain holding Artemis in her position, I did this until Percy nodded before returning my glare to Atlas.

"You fought well for a mortal, but utterly useless in the end" he said before he attempted to pull the spear from my chest, he must have found it pretty hard to do as I gripped it with my right hand.

That feeling of cold still trickled through my veins giving me the strength to do what I planned next, I rose quickly and my left arm roared to life, It's sound like a thousand warriors screaming their defiance at this being in front of me, and it was music to my ears.

"Checkmate" I said letting the blood dribble from my mouth before with a mighty roar of my own I slammed my fist into his chest. Whatever power stilled stored in the gauntlet was unleashed all at once boosted by whatever state I was in, Atlas screamed in pain as he was launched back pulling the spear with him.

I stood my ground from the backlash of the punch as well as the removal of the weapon that pierced me, but without a moments hesitation I sent my dagger out green chain burning bright behind it.

It wrapped around his neck and pulled taught as I used every bit of strength I had left to pull and pivot, he swung through the air shocked at what was happening as I aimed and released him directly at the point where the sky should meet the earth.

The point where Percy managed to break the chain holding Artemis down.

He flew fast but managed to stake his spear into the ground just before reaching Artemis, he was so focused on me however that he didn't notice Percy until he was hit with a full on tackle as Artemis rolled from under the sky that bound her free from her bonds.

It was enough, because as I saw Atlas roar in rage as he held up the sky while lying on his back I felt all of my energy leave me at once, I went numb when I realized I was used up.

I felt warmth roll down my stomach and as I gazed at the hole that hadn't started bleeding until now, the hole that was rather close to my heart and leaking a viscous purple fluid I only had one thought.

That's not good.

 **Later than I wanted, but I had already almost completely edited when we got a power outage and all of my editing was gone, so I procrastinated after that, but here it is the big battle. When I reread the fight in the original book I couldn't help but notice how anticlimactic it was, they just freed Artemis and let her do most of the work, well not this one, the heroes finish the job even though Alfred is a "little" worse for wear.**

 **As always, read, review, flame, it's all love to me.**

 **Alfred Vonstein signing out.**


	19. Nineteen, The Fall Of A Prince

**Disclaimer, I own nothing but some plot elements and my characters. All rights go towards Rick Riordan.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 19**

 **The Fall Of A Prince**

I hit the ground hard, much to everyone's shock if the yells were any indication, I felt people surround me but it was getting kind of hard to see, and why was I bleeding purple?

"Alfred? Alfred!" I heard someone call my name, It sounded like Thalia but couldn't she tell I was trying to solve a mystery here?

I shifted my gaze and could barely make her out but there she was staring down at me looking rather frantic, why was she so frantic and why was I bleeding purple?

"What's wrong my Queen?" I asked why did she look like she was about to cry? We won didn't we? But this purple thing is starting to give me a headache.

"D-don't talk! We just gotta stop the bleeding you'll be fine" she said before looking up and saying something I couldn't make out.

I guess whatever they said upset her because when she looked back down she was full on crying, that's not good I should kick their asses for that...after figuring out this purple problem.

Shit it was getting pretty hard to keep my eyes open, ah well I think I've done enough for now let them handle getting us out of here, and the purple blood problem, I'm just going to rest my eyes for a bit…

When Alfreds eyes closed, the reaction was the same for everyone, they tried to shake him to keep him awake but it proved useless, with every second his breaths grew weaker and further apart.

"Artemis do something please!" Thalia begged as she pressed against the wound on his chest.

Artemis gazed down at the brave boy who saved her despite the odds trying everything she could to heal his wounds, the winds were picking up around the group but something was blocking her magic.

"I don't know what but something is blocking me from healing him, and there is nowhere we can go in time" she said looking away, her eyes grew hateful as laughter boomed across the ruins.

"Didn't you know? My weapon is tipped with poison that could kill a god!" he roared from his eternal prison under the sky.

Despite the current situation however, he had to give some respect to the boy that beat him, and for lasting that long after being poisoned.

Percy laid a hand on Thalia's shoulder but she shook it off.

"No" she sobbed pressing harder into Alfred's weakening heartbeat.

"Thalia we have to go" he tried but she shook her head.

"NO!" she screamed before clasping her hands together making everyone's eyes grow wide.

For Thalia, was praying, actually praying for this person that forced his way into all of their lives like a raging storm, and was currently about to take his leave just as fast.

"Father please, please, please help him" she repeated over and over, begging Zeus with tears running like an endless river but the skies showed no change, nothing to alert them of the presence of Zeus.

Thalia knew was running out of options and the idea of Alfred, the guy that showed up with all of that power and grandeur, constantly pushing through, beating the odds off life and death like it was a game, was dying.

Despite his short time being present in her life she couldn't see a life without him sitting front and center, him with his sarcastic remarks, him with his confident smirk and constant promises of them ending up married.

His dad, his dad… a recent memory came up of them just before Alfred faced off with Ares cabin.

" _You might as well start calling me dad now_ " _Loki said with a sly grin as Thalia tried to stop the heat from rising in her face._

"Y _eah, that'll never happen_ " _she replied with a huff causing him to chuckle_.

Hands still clasped and eyes shut tight she focused on the smirking face so like the one constantly on the face of the one before her.

"Dad? Please help" she whispered desperately...

 **Just a short one for you guys, a little something to wet the appetite for in the next chapter we shall be delving into the mind of our favorite god himself.**

 **Read, Review, Flame it's all love to me.**

 **Alfred Vonstein signing out.**


	20. Twenty, Loki's Lament

**Disclaimer, I own nothing but some plot elements and my characters. All rights go towards Rick Riordan.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 20**

 **Loki's Lament**

As I stare down at the young boy in front of me sleeping soundly after a hard day of training, I can't help but lament over the things that I've done to get here, it seems so long ago but I can remember it like it was yesterday. The day I brought down Asgard, the final battle between me and my dear brother with a burning city of gold as our witness we battled for the future of the greatest kingdom in the nine realms.

"You'll never get away with this Loki! Just look around at what you've done, everyone is dead because of you!" Thor roared swinging wildly with that mighty hammer Mjolnir but I merely scoffed at his paltry attempt at making me feel regret.

"No, I believe it is you that should look around Thor, finally I've won, this isn't like the many times you've beaten me into submission and saved Asgard, this is the grand finale, and the curtain is calling as our dear father has just found out" I chuckled blasting him back with a burst of magic.

The newfound power bursting at my fingertips, the power of all the past warriors of Asgard delivered to me by my lovely daughter Hel, he let out a battle cry and charged once again, but this was not like the other times we've fought, I've always been smarter than him, delving into the magical arts just to be able to keep up with a full blooded god but this time, this time I now had the strength to match him, no over power him.

Yet despite that he fought on, and it was brutal, this was always the way it was meant to end as he and I threw around power that could destroy worlds and shatter galaxies. All in an attempt to finally rid one of the other, yet despite how dangerous my brother could be, and how I knew just how far his determination and will to fight could take him I was not worried at all.

For even if he beat me once again, killed me even...it still wouldn't matter, because Asgard was no more and he would find himself completely, irreversibly alone.

That is not what happened however, because much to my surprise even Thor, the constant wall in my way could not stop this plan, all the preparations I made for this day had finally proven fruitful for I beat Thor and I killed him.

The feeling of satisfaction, the feeling that I had finally beaten the one who stood above me for all of these years was glorious and when I left his body there to burn with the rest of Asgard I made my way towards the final act of the plan. The death of Odin, some guards had remained it seemed, but that didn't last for long because they dared to challenge me, me of all people.

Ultimately a wasted effort, they never even touched me as I glided past them killing them instantly for I was never one for unnecessary suffering, I entered the throne room just in time to see Odin the All-father, fall to my son Fenrir throat torn out and choking on his own blood.

Our eyes met, and that was where I believe the seed of doubt for my actions was planted, because when I looked into his eye expecting scorn, outrage, disbelief at the fact that his weaker son had ultimately been the one to bring about destruction to their realm, I saw none of that, it was a look that I hadn't seen many times but could still recognize quite easily, it was a look of love, of acceptance and forgiveness.

I held his gaze until his eye finally closed and Odin left this plane of existence forever, that's when I began to feel a bit numb, I took the throne, the thing that I had wanted for so long and sent Fenrir out once again to finish off anyone else that might have escaped the main battle.

I let my head rest against the throne and without my permission, without my notice tears filled my eyes and rolled down my cheeks, whether they were for the things I had just lost or of the things that I had gained I did not know, but they fell regardless and I allowed it.

It didn't take too long for the rest of the realms to fall at my feet, I was now the overlord of the nine realms yet the numb feeling in my chest only grew stronger as days passed by. Nothing I did stopped it, no other accomplishments I made filled the void in my chest, there was no satisfaction, no challenge, no more hard fought victories only simple slaughters as they tried to rebel and deny my rule, all for naught.

The power that placed Odin above all now rested within my chest, it was now the Loki force and with it I could bend the rules of reality itself, bring creatures only seen in the nightmares of the most insane beings to life and let them rampage across those that earned my ire. It would take many a century after everything that I would come to realize that the feeling I had was regret, loneliness...sorrow for the things that I had done.

I destroyed everything when in the end all I really wanted to do was lead, and create, to be adored for being who I am. The things that I believed to be completely useless...these feelings were proving to be my downfall, and loathe to admit it, my brother was right and yet there was nothing I could do now but sit and await what could possibly happen next. I was alone, and I hated every minute of it.

I suffered long enough, no chance was going to rear its head so I was going to have to search for it, every other magical being in all the nine realms together couldn't hope to match the power at my fingertips yet I still couldn't come up with anything to fix what I had done. I was reaching the end of my sanity yet something still stuck with me, a carving in the old room of Odin, maybe I once knew what it was but after so many years not thinking about it, it was now locked away in my memories waiting to be pried open for whatever it was I felt that it would be the thing to aid me in my endeavor.

Yet again, I was right, the carving was of none other than Yggdrasil the World Tree, and as Odin once told Thor and I before when we were but children there lies a fount of knowledge at the base of the tree. It was no trouble whatsoever to reach the world tree yet there were no words in my vocabulary to properly describe how magnificent it truly was.

Every world there was, and everyone that will be hung from the branches of this mighty tree stretching on into infinity, yet this was not what I had come looking for, no what I wanted lied at its base and I went there and I found it, and I threw myself bodily into its waters.

So much, so much knowledge all at once, it was almost too much, it almost broke me but there was something within me that held on, maybe it was my pride, maybe my stubborn nature, or maybe it was the memory of Odin the memory of my father in his final moments.

That look in his eye that seemed to accept his situation, or maybe I misinterpreted the look all together, somehow someway I believe that Odin knew I would try to make things right again.

Whether it was his all encompassing knowledge, or his faith in me as his son but he knew I would do this one day and that I would make it through any pain and obstacles placed in my path because I am Loki, and you can't keep me down for long.

I rose from the waters with an understanding of the Multiverse that I never knew I would obtain, it was all a cycle, the rise of Asgard to it's fall only to rise again when the cycle repeated. I've lived the lives of every Loki before me, seen their success and failures yet always following the same theme as I, believing to be scorned because of my heritage, playing second fiddle to Thor as he rose in power without truly deserving it.

Fighting against it, sometimes causing the destruction of Asgard and other times failing but never surviving, until now, until this very moment and that feeling of loss and emptiness was shattered. Replaced by a feeling that I knew all too well, the feeling that made Loki...Loki.

That feeling you get when a prank goes off without a hitch, the feeling you get when you cheat without getting caught, THAT FEELING you get when you completely outsmart everyone in the game without them even realizing you were in the game to begin with.

For the first time in a long time I felt that smirk cross my face because it was time, time to do what I did best, let the mischief begin.

Forcing the reset of our universe was a trivial matter for one such as I, at this point I was the strongest being in our universe and that truly made itself known when I ripped that universe from the branches of the world tree and poured my power into it, jump starting the regrowth until it reached a point that I recognized.

Then it was simple enough to wipe that Loki from existence and take his place, back to normal, and seeing my Odin, Thor and my mother once again made it almost too hard for me to keep my composure but what am I if not resilient. Not to mention Thor's constant need for fighting and general barbaric behavior made it quite easy to get back in the groove of constant annoyance at his antics.

Yet I would be lying if no one saw that annoyance being mixed with fondness, but it was a negligible matter, he was my brother after all, hiding my true power however was another matter entirely but, I managed, it was only when I felt comfortable with the slightly changed dynamic of this Asgard.

Thor being a bit more brutish and battle hungry, Odin acting more like a father instead of a king, and mother acting well like mother that I felt it was time to sneak out and begin my plans. There was a prophecy, there was always a prophecy involving Asgard and I had to find out what this particular one was, and it was one that hit a bit close to home.

 _While one son rises another feels scorned._

 _Only wishing to rule the place he believed to be born._

 _A trick to send the thunder crashing to the ground._

 _Ultimately foiled when thunder rolled back around._

 _But this was not the end of the son who failed._

 _For lying in Midgard was his answer to this tale._

 _A seed of creation lying in his palm._

 _The son once again challenged the place he called home._

 _Allied with Midgard the thunder shall roll._

 _To strike down his brother and save his second home._

I pondered this prophecy in the Realm of Tales and it would seem this Loki was also doomed to fail, I had to find a way to break this prophecy so that I may free myself from these annoying binds.

I couldn't break it outright it would take too much power, not even Odin could do such a thing if Ragnorak had anything to say about it, and even if I did prophecies were written in the fabric of the Universe. All this work would be for naught if I ruined the Universe that I see as my second chance, however just like anything else prophecies had loopholes, and it was time to start planning out how to widen that loophole so that I may slip through.

I had to make sure that it wasn't Thor or a hero of Midgard that defeated me in that battle, or a least a hero not recognized by Midgard so that I could properly act without the meddling of fate. I could always just win the battle but then I'd be back where I started fighting against Asgard once again and if I won last time without the Loki force then it would be a complete massacre with it.

I always did my best planning while causing general smaller levels of mayhem, blinding Heimdalls all seeing eyes when it came to my presence was simple enough, and the act of taking different forms just to terrorize others was very stress relieving. My clone was doing perfectly fine in Asgard, but I soon grew tired of not being able to walk around as my own completely amazing self so I went to Midgard where I wouldn't be recognized.

It was not that bad of a place now that I wasn't completely destroying it, and the mortals did seem to realize that they were in the presence of a higher being at least subconsciously almost like an animal instinct. However the borderline subservience they displayed without even knowing it was beginning to grate on my nerves and when I had finally decided to leave and bide my time in Asgard...she appeared.

Quite literally bumped into me, spilling her Midgard drink, I believed it to be coffee all over my clothes.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" she said not even looking at me, pulling out a piece of cloth from her pocket and patting down my chest.

"I wasn't even looking, I just got off work but I needed to head back because some of my patients were planning out a group suicide and-" she cut herself off when she finally looked at me.

Actually looked me in the eye, something that every other mortal has proven incapable of doing, and I suppose she was pretty enough, her skin was the color of the chocolates my mother used to give me when I was but a child in Asgard.

Hair fell around her face and shoulders in deep ebony curls and her eyes were a bit lighter than ale but seemed to spark with intelligence I haven't seen outside of a mirror in quite a while, and I suppose that's what interested me in the first place well that and what she said after but a moment into our staring contest.

"You're eyes don't match your face" she said suddenly and my eyebrows reached for my hairline like a child reaching for its mother.

"Oh?" I asked with a growing smirk, what could she be seeing I wonder?

"You're very lonely aren't you?" she asked with a tilt of her head that reminded me of a small animal more than anything else, she was a tiny thing I had to admit only coming up to my chest.

"And how exactly would you know that?" I asked clasping my hands behind my back, but she shook her head.

"I'm a psychologist, sorry I speak without thinking a lot" she said suddenly looking towards the floor and for some reason I didn't like that.

"It's quite alright, actually I feel like I would enjoy hearing more about it, as you appear to have lost your beverage would you allow me to replace it while we talk?" I asked.

She seemed quite surprised at the question but after staring into my eyes once again, she came to her conclusion and agreed and that was the beginning of honestly some of the best moments in my life.

It was around five months into this relationship that I decided to inform my significant other of a rather important piece of information about me.

"You're a god?" she asked tilting her head in that questioning manner I find so endearing now, I merely nodded with my now ever present grin in place.

"You're an egotistical genius, pathological liar, prideful trickster, and above all else a sarcastic asshole yet how come it feels like you're not lying?" she asked sitting next to me on the rather comfortable sofa in the living room of her apartment.

"That my dear is because I'm not lying, how many other gentleman do you know by the name of Loki Odinson?" I asked wrapping an arm around her small frame.

"No, yeah you're the only one, but a god? I may have to see some proof" she said resolutely, and I thought about what I should do that would prove myself truthful but not scare her half to death because while I may be what she calls an "asshole" I do not think I am evil...well at least any more.

"What would you like me to do?" I asked with a chuckle, and she assumed what she likes to call her "thinking pose" using her forefinger to push her nose up, she tried to explain why she did it but I'm sure it only made sense to her.

"How about...Oh! It says you can shape-shift in the stories! Turn into a penguin!" she said leaving my embrace in order to bounce on the sofa in excitement.

I stared at her long and hard, before giving a shrug and with a slight pull on my magic, not nearly enough to break the enchantment I placed on Heimdall, I let it alter my body into her favorite animal, a five foot tall penguin. She let out a shriek and I knew I was in trouble when her eyes lit up like that one mortal holiday, Christmas I believe it was.

"You are so cute!" she said hugging me tightly.

"I take offense to that, the god of tricks is not and shall never be cute" I said primly my mighty beak pointed towards the sky, for if I was to be a penguin I would be the god of penguins without question.

"Good to know your attitude stays the same" she laughed, before getting a better look at me.

"You would choose the emperor penguin species" she said while petting the place my crown should be, the other penguins should get in gear and make one for their god.

"Do you wish to go to Antarctica? I believe the other penguins in the world owe me a crown" I said holding out a regal flipper.

"Lead the way oh king of penguins" she said with a smile, and If I could sniff I would have.

"That's god of penguins my dear" I said and we were off to the Antarctic, I believe the news did a story about a large conglomeration of penguins and their subsequent rise to the top of their respective food chain after that event.

Did you know that some mortals had magical abilities? Because during my tenure on Midgard I met the oddest young couple...trio...the boy had two girls on his arm, and I think their names were Squall, Lunar, and Heritage? Something like that but they knew who I was almost instantly.

Apparently Lina? Lunar? Whatever her name was could see auras, and they were being taught at some magical school in Scotland, which was odd because they seemed to be very advanced in magic well at least Sqauck was, lovely people, quite powerful if I do say so myself although that aspect is overshadowed by how completely insane they were but that just made them entertaining.

I did them a favor when Squeak asked if I could help them with a runic circuit, it was a time stasis circuit a simple fix, they were quite close just a bit off. They promised me a favor if I ever needed them, even gave me a way to find them no matter where they were, and who knows they may come in handy at some point.

Marriage was inevitable, and a child was just a byproduct of said union and while I hoped that he wouldn't turn out to be a monster like all the children I've had before I somehow knew that no matter what, this child was going to be the most important thing in my life.

So it was truly an annoyance when something went wrong with my clone and I had to quickly pop back to Asgard to turn away any suspicions. It took far longer than it should have due to Odin keeping an even closer eye on me than usual because apparently the Loki of this Universe must have kept the ability of clones a secret as they didn't even know I could do such a thing.

I left a clone with Melissa just in case but I made sure to keep his magic locked just in case, didn't need Odin learning about a clone on Midgard then the real questioning would begin...but that would prove to be the worst decision I could've made, because on the day she went into labor was the day that I lost another part of myself.

The day she died in childbirth, all because I wanted to keep my presence on Midgard a secret, because I wanted to make sure my plans stayed in place, because I fell victim to the same problem that has always caused issues when it mattered most.

I lost the closest thing to love I've ever experienced because of selfishness, I am only grateful that my clone was also selfish and wouldn't accept anyone but I to deliver the child...and I named him Alfred, because that was her favorite name whenever we talked about it.

My clone dropped him off at a place called Westover Academy with her brother that I had never met, but it was the safest place for him while I dealt with the suspicion and watchful eye of my esteemed father.

He was never alone while he grew up, I was always there in one way or the other after the age of five, I watched him grow into a wonderful young boy, so much like me yet always able to remind me that he was just as much his mother. When his powers started manifesting I placed a concealment spell on him so that the monsters of this world wouldn't notice that he was the son of a god.

He still doesn't know that I was there with him long before he thought I was, and I would be lying if I said that he wasn't the most important thing to me, so when I heard the prayer for aid coming from his little love interest...I knew that it was time for me to act, but that would also spell the end for my little stint on Midgard, and the beginning of the prophecy.

But I didn't care, for my son is so much more than I was at that age and I knew that no matter what he would shoot past any obstacle without question.

I left a note on his desk as well as a picture of his mother and I, I was planning on giving this to him for his 17th birthday but this new blade should prove useful in his adventures without dear old dad to watch over him.

So that should be it, everything he'll need after my departure from this realm and my inevitable return, and there's no question that he'll be able to save me from the clutches of this blasted prophecy, but now. Now it was time for me to save my son...one last time.

 **There we have it, Loki's Lament. Off to save the day as Loki should do because to me no other character has as much charisma, and I love having the chance to put him where he belongs, at the top of the food chain.**

 **Read, Review, Flame it's all love to me.**

 **Alfred Vonstein, signing out.**


	21. Twenty-one, Return Of The Prince

**Disclaimer, I own nothing but some plot elements and my characters. All rights go towards Rick Riordan.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 21**

 **Return of The Prince**

When a few moments passed with no sign of Loki...I didn't know what to do, the tears wouldn't stop flowing as I stared down at this being who has affected my life in impossible ways in such a short amount of time. It's hard to believe that I've barely known him a week, and now I was going to lose him because of some stupid prophecy.

"You bastard, you spat in the face of the prophecy time and again yet you couldn't avoid the part about you? How could you do this? Don't let me down like this" I begged.

I was angry, so angry that this man couldn't come up with a way for us all to go home, he promised he wouldn't do this, but he did it anyway.

"Sorry I'm late traffic was slow this evening" I heard from above me, it sounded like something Al would say so I wasn't surprised when I looked up to see the grinning face of Loki.

Everyone was shocked when Thalia's prayer was answered, one second they were staring down at the hero of this quest in sadness, the next his father was standing above him like he was there the entire time, he even came with a joke.

"Well you kids sure did a number on this place" Loki said looking around the destroyed ruins, craters, fissures, and scorch marks littered the area.

"Help him" Thalia said rising to her feet to face Loki who merely laughed.

"Of course I will, that's my son we're talking about" he said before kneeling down to inspect the damage, Alfred lie there still as the grave but still wearing that ever present smirk.

Even in death he looked victorious, despite his shirt being in tatters and his wounds still oozing that viscous purple liquid he still looked like he came out on top and Loki had never felt so proud to call someone his son, although he did eye the golden arm and shook his head.

"Only you would return the Protean coin to its original state" he chuckled before waving his hand over Alfreds body.

Everyone could feel the magic as it hung thickly in the air, and just like that all the wounds were gone and even his clothes were restored to their proper state, but he still wasn't breathing.

"Now for the final touch" Loki said raising his hand and with a flash of golden light an elegant staff made of solid gold appeared in his palm, rising he gained a look of concentration.

The winds picked up and thunder rumbled up above but he paid it no mind, his eyes seemed to glow, before he placed the tip of his staff onto Alfred's chest, and with a massive cracking sound the winds died down but the thunder still rumbled up above, and just like that Alfreds chest began to rise and fall steadily as breath once more entered his body.

Thalia let out a choked sound before kneeling next to him and placing her hands over his chest, his heart beat strongly under her fingertips and that's when she allowed a smile to sprout across her face, Loki's grin widened as he knelt in front of her.

"Thalia look at me" he said and she looked up into the face of the god that has done more for her than even her father.

"I have to leave now, I must return to Asgard" he said and her eyes widened at the proclamation.

"What, why?" she asked frantically more worried about Alfred's reaction when he woke up to learn that his father was gone.

"It takes a lot of magic to bring a soul back into a body, and my family didn't quite know that I was gone, but now they do, I knew I would have to return someday so I have to ask you for a promise" he said grabbing her shoulder, she was almost floored by the first serious expression she had seen on his face so she could only nod for him to go on.

"Promise me that you'll be there for my son" he said and a glint of determination entered her eyes, shocking him in return for he was sure that there would be at least some hesitation at the request.

"Someone has to watch his back because he's obviously incapable of taking care of himself" she said with a scowl towards the sleeping male in between them causing the widest smile she'd ever seen stretch across the gods face as he squeezed her shoulder.

"He couldn't have found a better woman, then again he is my son" he said with a sly grin, she smiled back and shook her head.

"Whatever" she grumbled but that was enough for him so he rose and locked eyes with Artemis.

"My son saved you, and I swear on my very godhood that if the Greeks stand against him, they will be no more" he promised, she could nod at the look in his eyes that promised absolute destruction of anything and everything she knew, then he looked at everyone in turn.

"It was nice meeting all of you, I wish you all good fortune" he said with a nod before turning towards the reason for all of this in the first place.

"The Titans Wrath, who knew it would be an actual titan?" he wondered as he sauntered over.

"So you must be that brats father" Atlas chuckled as Loki stood over him.

"I am Loki yes, and from the looks of it my son really did a number on you" he said with a grin as he glanced over the titans burnt and beaten form, Atlas growled at the reminder.

"At least I took the brat down, how does it feel to know your son died god?" he spat but Loki merely chuckled.

"Oh please restoring life is a trivial matter, but the fact that he died at all still sits poorly with me, so here's the true question...what to do with you?" he asked kneeling down to look the titan in the eye.

"Unless you want this world to crumble there is nothing you can do to me" Atlas growled back but Loki just chuckled looking at him like he would an ant.

"Oh on the contrary, I believe I have something to make sure that something like this never happens again" Loki said before waving his hand.

Golden runes sprang into existence all around the Titan before sprouting spiked chains that sunk deep into the his flesh, Atlas roared in agony but could do nothing to stop them as they dug deep into the earth holding him in place, then the chains grew barbs and wrapped around his skin keeping him from moving an inch.

"There we are, now there's nothing anybody could possibly do to release you again, but don't worry you'll get used to the pain in a few millennia" Loki said idly.

Atlas growled at him like a rabid dog but Loki paid him no mind before gazing at the sky in irritation when thunder rolled once again.

"Well then I believe that I should get going, Arty I would be correct in believing you have transportation?" he asked, Artemis scowled at the name but nodded nonetheless.

"Good, well good bye everyone, keep an eye on my son would you?" he asked before just as he came he disappeared.

Only to reappear moments later with a thoughtful expression.

"I knew I was forgetting something" he muttered making his way over to stare down the side of the mountain at the coming horde of monsters and demi-gods, he cleared his throat and then in a voice that boomed all the way down the mountain, and even to the city of San-Francisco though no one would believe it even years later when no proper explanation could be supplied he spoke.

"All of you who follow the titan currently lying on his back from the proper ass-beating my son delivered upon him listen closely" he said and as one every being making their way up stopped in their tracks.

"My name is Loki, yes that Loki and I am giving you one chance to surrender, turn around and hop back onto your pretty little boat before I decide to wipe you from existence" he finished glaring down upon all of the feeble creatures.

There was no hesitation, they could find no reason to risk their lives against this god on this day for a titan that was defeated by a mere demi-god, in their eyes, the decision was already made and every single one of them turned and returned from whence they came, and for all the regrets they have experienced or will experience this will forever go down as not one of them, Loki nodded once before once again looking towards the group.

"Well that takes care of that, honestly I was expecting at least a few of them to continue on but I guess you don't inspire much loyalty Atlas. Ta-ta now" he said with a grin and a wave before disappearing once again, silence reigned over the mountain top, only broken with the occasional groan of pain and exertion that spilled from the lips of the once mighty Atlas.

Before long a silver chariot containing all of the beauty of the moon pulled by deer that not even the most heartless of hunters could bring themselves to shoot touched down before the group. Artemis rose and motioned for them to enter and through the efforts of everyone they managed to lift Alfred into the chariot comfortably, head resting in the lap of Thalia who couldn't even gather the strength to grow embarrassed.

He never stirred but any fear the group would have had over his well being was waylaid every time they caught sight of his still present grin of triumph, it was a grin that reminded them that they had won, the quest was finally over so the group was content to simply let their bodies rest and enjoy the smoothest ride they had ever experienced.

Everyone perked up when they began to hear quiet mumbling, only to turn and see that it was none other than Alfred and from the looks of it whatever he was dreaming about was very enjoyable. Thalia shrugged before Al's voice rose for but a moment, but that was all they needed to know exactly what he was dreaming about.

"Pig-Mother, become bacon...it is your destiny" he mumbled before smacking his lips once, twice, then falling back into blissful slumber, silence once again reigned over the group before Artemis asked the million dollar question.

"Who is this Pig-Mother the son of Loki speaks of?" she asked gaining a very confused expression, almost like a switch was flipped Thalia snorted, then slowly but surely the chariot began to fill with laughter, even Zoe allowed her laughter to ring out into the night sky while Artemis only seemed to grow more confused as time went on.

Her question was never answered in the end.

Artemis landed in what seemed to be a random stretch of land at the bottom of the mountain, motioning for them to exit the chariot the group did so making sure to keep Alfred comfortable with his arms thrown over the shoulders of Percy and Thalia, before turning to the goddess.

"I must head to Olympus immediately, I will not be able to take you but it would appear that the god of mischief has left something to aid you" she said before pointing to their left.

"What is that?" Percy asked in abject shock, because before them coiled upon itself comfortably was what could only be called a massive serpent, black scales glinting in the moonlight with bright green horns protruding from the sides of its skull.

It seemed to be asleep but after a moment it's large tongue shot from its mouth and tasted the air, then one huge golden eye opened and studied the group of demi-gods and the goddess before seeming to zero in on the person they carried.

"So the brat still slumbers, as far as first impressions go...color me unimpressed." it said in a surprisingly smooth and deep voice.

"Who are you?" Thalia asked shifting herself so the slumbering demi-god was as hidden from the creature as he could get without being dropped, the serpent let out a sigh before lifting its head. The size of the creature had everyone in the group tense but it either didn't notice, or didn't care as it's school bus sized skull tilted in a thoughtful manner.

"My name is Jormungandr, and I was created by Loki to watch over the brat" he said tiredly, the group was stunned, Jormungandr seemed to assess them for a moment before nodding his massive head.

"Well come on then, Loki already told me where you need to go next" he said, and that seemed to snap the group from their stupor.

"Do...do we just climb on then Mr. Jormungandr-sir" Bianca asked not bothering to hide her intimidation in the face of the massive beast, Jormungandr only smiled revealing rows of sharp teeth.

"No need" he said simply before lunging forward faster than any of them could react.

They didn't even have time to scream before they were swallowed by the serpent, falling into a dark abyss as it's maw snapped closed, he hissed in amusement then focused on the goddess that stood by the silver chariot, their eyes locked for a few long moments before he let his tongue taste the air once more.

"Later" he said simply before lunging towards the sky his massive body uncoiling until he disappeared from sight breaking through the clouds, Artemis merely shook her head.

"I feel this particular demi-god will be the most troublesome of them all" she muttered before climbing back into her chariot and shooting into the sky.

Thunder rolled and lightning flashed over the skies of Manhattan, seemingly centered over the empire state building, no one noticed as a giant serpent broke through the clouds veiled under the cover of the darkness the storm provided. Jormungandr continued to rise until he finally broke through the final layer of clouds and before him Olympus stood, magnificent and truly massive, almost filled to the brim with Demi-gods, sprites, and even minor godlings as they bustled about the city in the early morning light.

He paid them no mind instead heading towards the palace that stood above them all, bathed in a near golden light the towering and blinding white Hall of The Gods. He touched down in the courtyard before the massive silver gates before opening his maw allowing the demi-gods to walk out in varying states of confusion, Thalia and Percy had Alfreds arms thrown over their shoulders once again as they made their way from Jormungandr's mouth.

Percy turned and stared at the serpent, a look of utter bewilderment dominating his features.

"Did you know that you had a living room for a stomach?" he asked, Jormungandr merely rolled his golden eyes.

"That's not my stomach young naive one, that is merely a holding space Loki placed within me for when his son uses me to travel" he informed.

Then right before their eyes he began to shrink, steam rolled off his scales completely obscuring him from view until from the smoke screen a snake about only twice their size slithered out. No one questioned it thoroughly burnt out from the events of the quest and the arrival of the great serpent in the first place, Jormungandr didn't mention the lack of surprise and merely wrapped his tail around the waist of Alfred. He lightly placed him upon his head where the Demi-god fit almost perfectly.

"Shall we?" Jormungandr asked motioning towards the giant silver gate that proceeded to open of its own accord.

Oh, oh wow I feel drained, like empty, not even running on fumes anymore my magic is just completely gone. Holy shit, am I moving? Did we make it out of there? Did they solve the purple problem? So many questions and I can't even open my eyes, well if I've been taken prisoner then I'll just have to think of something amazing once again, bust out save the girl and the others I guess then go home and fall into a coma.

Wait, wait a minute I hear talking...why is it so muffled? Am I going deaf? Man I wish father was here, alright focus listen to the words...and they make no sense whatsoever, it sounds like that old cartoon my father is so fond of, what was it again? Oh yeah Peanuts, yep I've just come to the realization that I'm bored. Completely and utterly bored, am I even awake? Is it possible to be awake but not awake, sleep paralysis maybe? Oh wait hearing's starting to clear up.

"These half-bloods have done Olympus a great service, would any here deny that?" wait a minute I recognize that voice! Arty's alive, how lovely so I guess that means we won, so that means I can kick back relax and fall back to dream land and wait what are they saying?

"These two are dangerous! It'd be much safer to simply rid ourselves of them while they're here" a voice growled. Ares? Who's he talking about? Probably me, though I'm pretty sure the group won't except that but who's the other one?

"Ares, they are worthy heroes, we will not blast my son to bits" another voice chided. Poseidon? Oh so they're talking about Percy and I, well that's odd he hasn't really done anything to deserve-

"Nor my daughter, she has done well" another voice said gruffly...Zoe's not a half-blood, Bianca is but she's a hunter so she falls under Artemis, the only other one that I could think of is...

OH.

HELL.

NO.

"However no one can deny that there is a security risk with leaving them alive despite what they've accomplished" a woman said but I think I've heard enough.

Come on, gotta get up! I know I'm stronger than this, let's go body get with the program, lovely Thalia is in a predicament! Oh well that's a warm feeling, a very, very powerful warm feeling. Somewhere in the chest area, oh there's my strength, just enough to move I think but it'll have to do for now.

"So the child finally awakens" a deep smooth voice said as I finally opened my eyes to stare at a very high, very beautiful constellation filled night sky.

"Somebody mind running that last bit of conversation by me again?" I asked sitting up on whatever it was I was on, oh hey a giant snake... how lovely, questions later cunning power activating now.

My feet touched the ground as the large serpent lowered it's head and while I didn't show it, standing took a bit of effort but it was easily bearable with a grin.

"Did someone just threaten to destroy a Thalia in my presence?" I asked looking up at the wow, very large beings seated in a semi-circle around a burning hearth with a very familiar creature swimming in a large ball of water.

Oh that's Timmy, another thing to question these, I see Dionysus so I'm going to go with gods.

"Alfred!" multiple people yelled in surprise until a lovely weight crashed into me, I bit back the groan I desperately wanted to let out in favor of staring down at the messy black hair of one Thalia currently crushing my ribs.

"I feel that this is always how you should greet me" I said smugly.

"Shut up" she replied voice muffled in my shirt, I looked up at the large gods and stared them down unflinching.

"So who suggested the killing of my Thalia? Speak now or everyone will be held responsible" I said, the outrage could be felt for miles as many leaned forward with various shouts of you dare? And other nonsense I mean really? If I didn't dare I wouldn't have said anything.

Though by the looks the rest of the group was sending me that was probably not the best way to start off this little conversation but I could care less at the moment, I'm tired, irritated, this tingling warmth in my chest is slightly worrying and someone is trying to kill my Thalia so sorry if I don't care about their egos.

"So judging from your voices I would say that it was you Ares that spoke first, and you whoever you are that brought it back up" I said pointing at the large growling god then the scowling goddess in turn.

"All I have to say to that is, no matter what your reasoning for suggesting such a thing the answer is no, as well as you're welcome to try" I said eyes narrowed and smirk challenging.

I felt a massive amount of shifting under my feet that almost put me on my ass but I kept my balance and soon I was rising up until I was eye to eye with the seated gods, I glanced down to notice that the once large serpent was now a very large serpent.

"The son of Loki is looked down upon by no being, god or otherwise" that smooth voice said once again, cool.

"Why you are absolutely right…" I paused waiting for a name.

"Jormungandr" it said and I nodded, wait that sounds familiar.

"Jormungandr...The world serpent?" I asked with a tilt of my head and he nodded.

"Should anything happen to you, I am under orders to swallow this plane of existence, spelling the end of all of Midgard and all it's lesser gods" he hissed and now I really felt the tension rising in the room.

"Oh, well how lovely another thing to tilt the scales of this conversation in my favor, pun definitely not intended" I said with a grimace that only grew when Apollo's smiled widened just a tad as he shot me a thumbs up for the slip up.

"So, here's how this conversation will continue, you will thank us for saving your little pantheon, and it's okay I don't need or want anything from you so you can reward everyone else, we will then proceed to go home where I will continue my efforts to woo the lovely Thalia into marrying me" I said with a nod.

The indignant groan was amusing but the look from the god at the center of the semi-circle had to be ten times better.

"Hey I get to meet the parent, Zeus I'm currently dating your daughter and if everything goes to plan will then marry and have kids with your daughter, just thought you should know" I said with a nod towards the large bearded being in front of me.

I swear I heard thunder rumble outside and those were some mean sparks coming off his hands, I guess that's a family thing, oh wait I think Thalia's trying to get my attention if the shaking of my person was any indication.

"Yes dear?" I asked glancing down at her withering glare.

"Are you trying to get all of us killed?" she growled and I shook my head, what an odd question.

"No, i'm trying to get all of us home, now let me wrap this up please" I assured her.

Vision was starting to blur, I need to end this fast for I am not long for the conscious world.

"So in summation, you will not kill Percy or Thalia because if you do it would upset me and no one wants that. They are under the protection of Asgard, and to threaten them is to declare war, Zeus if your mighty beard is any reminder you're really smart especially when it comes to the survival of your pantheon." I said and he rose a single brow as I continued.

"A war on two fronts with one side being a bunch of really pissed off super beings led by none other than the daddy of the main gods, while the other will be packed full of a bunch of really pissed off gods of war and bloodshed led by none other than my father whom I am sure you have met." He twitched slightly so I believe their meeting was...less than pleasant.

"At that point you wouldn't have to worry about the Titans because they would end up dying too, then the world, and I like the world, it's my world so my meager suggestion is to not stack the odds in the enemies favor and instead pool your resources, like me for instance the so called half-blood who kind of beat the shit out of their General already and make these titans rue the day they decided to fuck with Olympus" I finished.

"The heir of the true king of Asgard has spoken" Jormungandr said before that rather important thing known as feeling in your legs left mine.

"I'm going back to sleep now" I said and could feel more than see Thalia look at me before everything blacked out once again.

 **Another chapter down, and we're reaching the end of this book, and for those that got the prophecy Loki found should know that this story will be expanding into my very own universe, which will be rather entertaining if I do say so myself.**

 **P.S. Obviously I wasn't going to leave my boy dead, this was just a means to getting Loki who in this story could solve most problems with a snap of his fingers off the scene, for now.**

 **Read, Review, Flame it's all love to me.**

 **Alfred Vonstein, signing out.**


	22. Twenty-two, Home

**Disclaimer, I own nothing but some plot elements and my characters. All rights go towards Rick Riordan.**

 **The Return of The Asgardians Chapter 22**

 **Home**

I was lying on something far more comfortable this time around when I came too, and when I opened my eyes it was to the vaguely recognizable ceiling of my room, wow how long had it been since I've been here? Felt like forever, but this just reaffirmed one thing. If I was alive after literally telling the gods what to do then it was safe to assume that everyone else made it out.

I glanced around the room and noticed something rather lovely, there was currently a Thalia half slumped in a large green and very comfortable chair that was pushed close to the bed as if she was watching over me in my sleep. Actually that seemed to be spot on if the spear leaned against the wall and well within her reach was anything to go by then she really was guarding my sleeping form, silly Thalia nothing can happen to anyone that resides within these walls, not if father had any say in the matter.

With an extra large grin I quietly got out of bed and moved over to her rather uncomfortable position, careful not to wake her I picked her up and transitioned her over to the bed. After tucking her in I took a moment to relish in the idea of Thalia sleeping in my bed before looking over my room, everything was relatively the same as my vague memory of the place before the quest.

Although I don't remember that long package being on my desk before, curious I walked over and examined the parcel, it was about the length of my arm and twice as wide wrapped in snake covered green wrapping paper. Father must have been the one to put it here, no one but him had such an obsession with the color green and snakes...well except for me but I feel that had to be hereditary.

Tearing off the paper, then making sure that the annoying sound didn't wake up Thalia I opened the white wooden box within and stared at the item lying on the green padded inside. It was a short sword, it's green blade glinting in the morning light that spilled through the curtains, it's hilt was made from what looked like intricately carved obsidian with golden runes that seemed to glow stretching down it's length.

The cross-guard was that of the Orobouros, the snake that eats it's own tail, circling the weapon where blade met hilt, it's ruby eyes seemed to wink at me whenever light flashed across it. It was a beautiful blade, and what I couldn't help but notice to be a great replacement for my dagger, seeing as I could only use a single weapon now due to the lack of nerves in my left hand.

Forethought of a god I believe is the most fitting thing to say at the moment, pulling the blade from the box I wasn't exactly surprised when the blade was instantly covered in an ornate sheath made of an odd black material. I strapped it to my left side and the initial weight of the weapon seemed to disappear, it was then that I noticed the letter lying at the bottom of the long box.

It was parchment, now I know that this came from father only he would still use such an old fashioned form of paper, and was that green ink? Was that a picture? My heart damn near stopped when I turned the old photograph over. It was of father holding a woman lovingly, sporting a smile that I honestly had never seen before, there was no secret behind that smile, no grand scheme, not even a slight prank… just happiness.

The woman was no different, skin color only slightly darker than my own, large circular glasses surrounded the most expressive eyes I've seen outside of Thalia's, her smile was serene but the happiness could be seen in how it lit up her soft features that was surrounded by waves of dark curls. This was not the first time I had seen a picture of my mother.

My Uncle had plenty of those around his office, but this picture right here just seemed to capture everything about her in a single moment, and how much care was channeled between these two beings that were so intrinsically different. It took a while but I was finally able to tear my eyes away from the smiling couple to finally read the letter that lay across my lap, and the contents that it held would be the spark that set off a chain of events that was impossible to predict.

Even for one such as Alfred Loki Vonstein.

 **And there we have it, the end of book one, sadly we will not see this beloved character for a small while because his next story will intertwine with that of another character across the sea, a certain wizard who shook up his own world years ago.**

 **Thank you for reading this story as it's been in my head since I first finished the Percy Jackson series, I honestly wasn't even expecting this much positive reception when I decided to make my own character due to the...less than stellar OC stories I've read in my years.**

 **So thank you for sticking with this story until it's conclusion and I will hopefully see you in the next one, "A Shark In Wolves Clothing" The first chapter should be out by tomorrow.**

 **Read, Review, or Flame, it's all love to me.**

 **Alfred Vonstein, signing out.**


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